Cherry Love
by Wild Craze
Summary: Logan falls head over heels in love with a woman (OC), brings her back at the mansion, but things he didn't expect to happen, well, happen. Scott is jealous, Jean is Jealous. Jean wants him back. What will happen? What will he choose? I'M BACK!
1. Unwanted swim

~Title: Cherry Love

~Author: Wild Craze

~Summary: Logan finds a woman in Alberta, falls head over heels in love with her and brings her back at the mansion. Scott, Jean and Rogue are all jealous. How far will they go to get who they want?

~Rating: PG-13, just to be safe and for some romance. Maybe violence later on.

~Disclaimer: I own the oc! Besides that, nada!

This is a love story between Logan and another character, which is a creation of mine. Please review and tell me what you think about it. This is not a Mary Sue, though I am often told it looks like one. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 1:**

****

Logan stopped his motorcycle and jumped into the snow that arrived at his knees. 

That was the problem in Canada: to much snow. 

He sniffed the air again, sensing a familiar scent. He had followed it from the Alkali lake base where he hadn't found anything. Now, he was in the middle of the forest, knee deep in the snow and had no traces in front of him. It hadn't snowed for days, so it was impossible for the tracks to have been covered, and so it meant that he could just rely on his nose. The smell was fresh and he had smelled it from far away. It wasn't a bad smell. It was just someone's scent, one he seemed to recognize from somewhere. 

He made two other steps, cursing at the too large amount of snow. He walked forward for about ten minutes, and ended in a vast plain. He stopped, taken aback by the sun that reflected on the white surface. 

After a few minutes of contemplation, he took out a cigar and a lighter from his leather jacket's pocket, and lit it as he walked to a fallen tree trunk that was lying not too far away. He sat on it, wondering where the smell was coming from. Absolutely no one lived in these regions, and there wasn't a village in about sixty miles. He couldn't think of someone other that himself who would like to live here, surrounded by wolves, bears, eagles and other wild animals. Not even 'Indians' lived around here. It was too isolated.

About fifteen minutes later, he started to feel the cold that slowly froze his fingers. He threw his piece of cigar in the snow, got to his feet, and decided to continue to follow the scent. It went through the plane and continued on the other side, so he started walking across. He realized that the snow there was thinner and only reached him in the middle of the tibia. Half way to the other side, he felt a light panic grow in his stomach. 

A vast area covered in less snow then near the edge, and with the forest at the border. He looked at his feet, and heard a crack. He didn't move. The panic in his stomach grew as he remembered that his adamantium skeleton made him very, _very_ heavy. If the ice on which he was standing gave up, he was most probably done for since it was impossible to swim with a metal structure attached to your bones. Another crack was heard and he felt his body descend a few inches. He lift his boot and made a step forward. It was the last move he made as the ice gave up under his weight. 

It was a real shock when he felt the cold pain spread over his body when he hit the water. He felt a strange numbness get over him. He opened his eyes, and saw nothing but darkness and the hole of light above his head, getting smaller and smaller. Using all his strength, he pushed his legs forward and moved his arms to go back up at the surface. 

He felt himself go deeper, and felt so heavy he would have given up if the lack of oxygen urged him to get back up at the surface. 

He swam with rage, using all his force but still, the hole he had made was fifteen feet away. He sunk back at the bottom, now only seeing the hole as a hazy circle because he was so deep. The air was seriously starting to miss him, when he looked down next to his feet and saw the blurry outline of a huge log, trapped to the bottom by a very big rock. Quickly, he pushed the rock and gabbed the gigantic trunk that floated back at the surface in a vertical position. It hit the ice near the hole and made it crack, but also made Logan's head hit the hard surface, making him feel extremely dizzy. With the last force left in his numb body, he pushed himself against the log, towards the hole. 

He let the cold Canadian air fill his lungs as he grabbed on to the snow. He stayed there the time to stop panting, and then looked at his hands that were shaking madly and slowly turning a bluish tone. He pulled out his claws and stabbed the ice, to pull himself out, and had some sort of difficulty in retracting them because the water was starting to paralyse him. 

He arrived to retract them after a while, and walked on his knees towards the other side, not being able to get on his feet. Not even two minutes later, he passed out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Well, that's chapter one. 

See the button under this? Listen to the little voice . . . click on it . . . review . . . review . . . do it now . . . or else . . .


	2. Saviour

Now, I just want to tell you that Shania is mine... heheheheh...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****

**Chapter 2:**

****

Shany opened the main door of her cabin, a cup of coffee in her hands. She held the door open for her three dogs to pass, then sat on the first step of her porch. She looked up at the sky, seeing that the sun was going down behind the mountains, and that the stars were starting to appear in the east. A faint smile came to her lips as she looked at the pine trees in the forest. She loved this place for being so calm and peaceful. It was such a wonderful place. 

Her jeep was parked not too far away, and she watched her dogs that were sniffing around. She took a sip of her hot coffee, and brought her knees back up. She wasn't wearing a coat, and simply had a big woollen turtleneck on. Her jeans weren't new and her hiking boots neither, but they both were in good shape. 

She walked down the steps and walked around in the snow that reached her ankles. Her dogs started chasing each other when suddenly, the first dog that looked more like a wolf than any other thing, stopped and sniffed the air. He started barking and growling, walking to Shania and back to the spot where he had stopped. His mistress followed him, and the wolf-dog soon started running towards the lake. Seeing that her companion was leading her to something, she ran back inside to get her coat and gloves, in case she was going to walk far. She spotted her handgun near the door and decided to take it with her, just in case. She left without locking the door, knowing that there was absolutely no one nearby.  

She called back her wolf by the name of Fang, and he came running towards her, whining, wanting her to come faster.

She started jogging behind the black beast and arrived quickly at the border of the lake. She looked around and noticed the black form on the ice immediately, and also seeing the hole in the ice not too far away from it.

She knew that the ice wouldn't crack under her light weight so she ran to the body, followed by her dog. 

She kneeled down and had to toss him over because he had been lying in the snow on his stomach. First, she checked his breathing, and saw that it was feeble, but normal. He was turning blue and his clothes were completely soaked with water that was now almost freezing into place. She took off her gloves and slapped him across the face, trying to wake him up.

"C'mon," she whispered through clenched teeth. "Wake up! Don't die on me now."

Seeing that the slapping wasn't working, she tried to lift him up. He was too heavy for her, so she called Fang and with one whistle, the beast grabbed Logan's jacket by the collar and started pulling towards the bank. Shania was a bit scared that the ice would crack again, but it didn't give any signs of weakness, so there was nothing to worry about. They arrived at the cabin and Shany pulled Logan into it, closing the door so the dogs wouldn't come in. 

She ran to the kitchen and brought back a cup of coffee. She carefully held his head while bringing the cup to his lips. Slowly, she arrived to make him drink some without choking him. It arrived to sort of wake up Logan.

A groan freed itself out of his lips, and she immediately leaned over him.

"Hey honey, I kneed you to stay conscious," she said into his ear. "Try to talk. Please say something."

Logan whinged again, and tried to move, without any success. He moved his lips, trying to talk. He opened his eyes for half a second, but all he could see were very blurry outlines, and the pain it caused made him close his eyes again.  

"C-c-c-cold," he arrived to mumble. "V-v-very c-c-c-cold."

Logan passed out again and Shania placed the cup to his lips again to make him drink more, remembering about what to do with people who had hypothermia. She had tried with the food to give him back stamina, but it was not really working. She had a light hesitation, then pulled off his jacket, the two shirts he had under and finally reached his skin. He was now shivering lightly and had a few convulsions.

Quickly, she pulled him to her room and arrived to place him in her large bed.

She stripped off the rest of his wet clothes and buried him under warm blankets. She stopped again, hesitating again, this time a bit longer, but she finally took off all her clothes except her underwear and slid under the feather blankets, next to Logan's form after having turned on the heating in the room to its maximum capacity.  She pressed herself against his cold body and gently passed her fingers through his frosty hair.

"C'mon, honey; be strong," she whispered, massaging his head and elbows.

There was absolutely nothing else to do for the moment. She knew that doing this with only one person to bring back the victim's body temperature to normal was very dangerous because it usually ended up with the two people with hypothermia, but she didn't have another choice. At least, Logan's body wasn't of a bluish colour anymore. 

She might have had a lot more hesitation if the man was old and ugly, but it wasn't at all the case. A small smile formed itself on her lips as she looked at the man she had rescued with a little more attention. 

He was taller than her by a little more than half a foot. She rubbed his chest, trying to make him warm faster. She realised that he was strong, by the looks of his muscles. Shania thought that he was maybe a fighter, like those in the bars and clubs she visited occasionally, but there were absolutely no scars on his skin, to prove that he had received hits. 

_~Maybe he's too good to get beat up,~ _She thought with a smile, passing her fingers in his hair again, knowing that she was more than a little attracted to the man.

She started to feel cold, and pressed herself against Logan, resting her head on his shoulder. 

What she didn't know was that the man she had rescued had a metal skeleton, and that metal keeps the cold, so Logan's body was absorbing her body heat, but wasn't restoring his body temperature. Logan's healing factor was slowly doing the trick, but couldn't give back the heat to Shany's body yet. 

She passed her arms around Logan's neck after having pulled up the blankets completely over them, and closed her eyes. She stayed awake for a while, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing, but after a while, sleep claimed her and she drift away into unconsciousness still holding onto the man she was trying to save.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

PLEASE!!! I beg you!! Tell me what you think and just review!!!!!!!!


	3. Meeting, attack and runaway

In this chapter… Logan WAKES UP!!! TOM,TOM,TOM… what is he going to think? Read on to discover!!!!! *Niark, niark, niark*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****

**Chapter 3:**

****

Logan slowly came back to consciousness. He breathed deeply and let his head fall back. He was surprised to feel that it didn't hit an ice-cold surface, but a comfortable pillow instead. He opened his eyes and quickly closed them again as he felt them burn with pain. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes.

He remembered falling into the water, the lack of air and crawling back out, but the rest was a total mystery. The main question that was roaming in his head was: Where am I?

He opened his eyes again and the pain he felt was less significant than the first one. He focused on the ceiling and saw that it was made of wood. He tried to turn his head, but it was simply impossible. He tried to get in an upward position, but he felt weight blocking his movements. He looked downwards and saw a woman completely lying on him. To the looks of it, she was sleeping. 

A cold rush passed his body and forced him to drop his head onto the pillow again. It was then realized that he was totally freezing. Only the part of his body held warm was where the woman was. 

Logan grabbed one of the feather blankets and covered himself with it. When he placed his head back down, he felt the woman untie her arms from around his neck and one of her hands fall onto his chest, warming the area.

Now there were many more questions he wanted to ask this woman. Who was she? Why were they in the same bed? Why was he so cold? Where were they? How did he get here? 

A long, soft moan came out of the woman's mouth as she moved her head, and interrupted his thinking. Immediately, a mischievous smile appeared on Logan's face and made his body twitch lightly, as his senses intensified. He looked back down at her, evaluating her aspect. 

She had long brown hair that fell in soft ringlets on her shoulders. She was Caucasian, and had softly tanned skin. Logan evaluated that she was in her late twenties, early thirties. _Victoria Secret model,_ he thought naughtily seeing her _red_ underwear. She had pierced ears, and little diamond earrings on. What really caught Logan's eye was that she totally had THE perfect body. 

_~Better than Jean's?,~_ he thought impishly.

Suddenly, he felt freezing again. 

"What the hell is happening to me?" he thought as he pulled another blanket.

He stayed quiet for a moment, trying to warm himself up. The woman moved again, and stretched her arms and legs. Logan smiled again, feeling her get closer to him under the covers. A few moments later, she got into an upward position. Logan noticed that her hair was longer than he thought. She stretched again, adding a moan. After that, she turned to Logan who simply forgot to close his eyes and pretend to sleep as he was amazed by the colour of her eyes. A strange mix of colours, with deep green and dark blue entwined with sparks of gold. It was really dazzling.

He could truly read the surprise in her eyes as she saw he was awake. Logan mumbled something incoherent and almost blushed, as he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her cheeks became a clear shade of pink.

"Are you cold?" she asked, looking at the blankets he had pulled over himself.

"Y-yeah," he simply said. "W-what happened?"

"My dog found you on the lake. You fell in. You were unconscious when I got to you. I brought you back at my place. You had hypothermia and . . . I . . . I tried to help you restore your body heat by skin contact. Now that you're awake you can take a hot bath to finish bringing you back to normal temperature," she said, sliding out of the bed and quickly placing a bathrobe on her shoulders. She turned around to pick something up, and didn't notice Logan becoming bright red as he lifted the covers and saw that he was totally unclothed. 

"What's your name?" he asked to her.

"Shania," she said with a light smile. "You can call me Shany. And you?"

"L-Logan."

She turned to him and threw him a bathrobe. He took it, glad not to have to ask for clothes. 

"Take a bath with medium temperature," she said. "Leave your feet, hands and head out of the water until you don't fell cold at all. People with hypothermia who just put them in the water make the cold blood in these parts rush to the heart and it can trigger a heart attack." 

Logan crawled out of the bed, shivering lightly. In his normal form, he would have had the tendency to ask sarcastically if she wanted to join him, but he felt that she was too beautiful to mess with.

She pointed him out where the bathroom was and told him that she was going to make a very late breakfast while he bathed. He entered the bathroom and turned on the taps as the water started flowing. He was amused to see how much things she put in that room. There were, of course, makeup and shampoo and cream bottles on little shelves, the mirror was large and plane, but fit very well with the beige tiles on the floor and walls. There was a little window through witch he could see the forest. Near the bathtub, there were a few shelves on which there were books. Logan saw that there were many subjects: from Agatha Christies' to magazines, passing by martial arts and Feng Shui books. What he really liked in that particular room was the glass bottles placed on high shelves above the mirror. Inside were different sorts of sand. He read that some came from California, China, Africa, and Miami… It was pretty nice.

He took his bath like Shania had explained him to, and came back out clean and back to normal body temperature. He walked to the kitchen and was happy to smell bacon frying in a pan. He saw a large table near the kitchen and saw that two plates had been put up. He saw toasts, eggs, pancakes and many more mouth-watering things to eat be placed on it. It was not to say that he was starving and was glad to finally sit at the table to eat.

 Shania forced him to drink coffee, so she could be sure that he still hadn't cold blood in his body. After having eaten, she got him some clean clothes, excusing herself that his old clothes were still in the washer. Logan got dressed with the jeans and t-shirt she gave him.

She got dressed when he was finished, and she proposed him a walk.

Outside, Logan smelled the same sent he had followed from the base. Shania noticed him sniffing.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"A smell. I remember it from somewhere," he said, following it.

Shany followed him closely. Logan walked down the porch, walked a bit, now sensing the smell clearer. He stopped in front of the jeep.

"The jeep's not mine," Shania said quickly. "A friend lent it to me."

"Who is he? Can I meet him?" Logan asked.

"Ah . . . He lives in the States."

"Ah. Where exactly?"

"New York, I think," she said vaguely.

Logan grumbled something.

"What?" Shania asked.

"I have friends in that region."

"Oh."

Logan walked around the truck a couple of times, eyed by Shania who looked at him go, smiling lightly. 

"So what are you doing in Canada?" she asked.

"Trying to find my past. I lost my memory and a friend directed me near here. An old abandoned military base not too far away. Have you been there?"

"Yeah . . . A couple of times. Why were you directed to go there?" she asked, a suspicious look in her eyes.

"I was said to find something connected to my past. I didn't."

"Sorry to hear that," she said, more relaxed.

A dry wind flew by, and made them shiver. 

"C'mon," Logan said. "Let's go back inside before we both catch hypothermia."

He walked to the porch, following her lead when he heard a funny noise that seemed to be the crack of a branch and the trigger of a gun being prepared to shoot. He froze and looked towards the forest. No one with normal eyesight could have seen them, but with his heightened view, Logan clearly saw the men in white suits, crippled in the snow with their guns. They were everywhere around the chalet.

 He made it appear that he hadn't seen them, and jumped towards Shania who was opening the door. They entered.

Inside, he turned to her.

"Are you expecting visitors?" he asked seriously.

Shania looked at him for a moment.

"No. No one is even supposed to know I'm here," she said. "Why?"

"Follow me," he said, walking to the kitchen. 

Shany's gun was on the table. He took it, checked that it was fully loaded and walked to the back door, still holding her hand. A very big explosion was heard.

"I think that was your jeep," Logan said, almost casually. 

Shania looked at him with big eyes.

"There are men outside, hiding," he explained. "Who do they want: me or you?"

Gunfire was heard. 

"C'mon," he said pulling her out of the cabin. 

Logan verified that there weren't any people hidden in the snow, then ran into the forest, holding Shania to make sure she wouldn't get hit. They hid behind a group of trees.

"Let's split up," Shania said. "We meet on the other side of the lake in forty-five minutes."

"My bike's there we can get away with it," Logan said. "Are you sure you want to split?"

"Of course," she said seriously. "I'm sorta used to this, believe me."

Logan was about to ask her what she meant by that when gunfires were heard again, but this time they were coming in their direction. He ducked as bullets zoomed by. He looked back to where Shania was, but she wasn't there anymore. Fear took him as he looked around looking for her. She was nowhere in sight. He turned towards the chalet and saw that the men had entered the little house and were now coming out from the back door. He took the gun and aimed for one of them. He fell to the floor and bullets immediately started zooming towards him. He walked on his knees to another tree. A man dressed in white was there and he knocked him out. He took the gun and started walking towards the lake, making a very big detour. Of course, he passed a few soldiers he had to bring down. He arrived near his bike at the assigned time. The soldiers were spreading out in the woods and Logan was afraid they'd reached him before Shania did.

Ten minutes passed and Shania still wasn't there. Logan was starting to think they had gotten her when she finally arrived. His jaw dropped when she got to his level.

She was now wearing different clothes that suited her perfectly. She had tight black leather pants and a form-fitting vest made of the same material. She wasn't wearing a shirt under as the vest was very low-cut . . . and provocative, Logan thought. Her lightly curly hair was tied upwards, bangs falling in her back in a very pretty way. She had silver rings in her ears and a charm bracelet made of silver, around her left wrist. Logan noticed that she had high heels, even if she was walking in snow. Even her makeup was different. She had put on blood-red lipstick and black mascara that brought out the colour of her eyes in a cool way. Logan also noticed a gun tied to her belt.

He whistled. 

"Damn, you look good," he exclaimed, feeling stupid right after he said that, though the smile he gave her in return made him feel it was very well worth it. 

She handed him a leather vest, that he put on, realizing that it was just his style.

"We'll be driving a lot, so I guess it would be better of you had one that was in good shape," she said. "I couldn't get the old one back from my chalet."

"Thanks," Logan said. "Where are we headin'?"

"You're pick, but it better be far," she answered walking to the motorcycle. "Wow, it's nice."

"Thanks, even if it's not mine," Logan said, mounting it.

"What?"

"Never mind," he said, motioning her to get on.

Shania got on behind him and passed her arms around his waist. Logan turned the bike on, and brought it to the road. He pushed it lightly as it started running towards the south. After a few minutes on the road, he pressed on the little red button, making it go faster towards the south.

His goal was Westchester, New York.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yeah, that was a bit quick, but hey. Tell me what you think . . .

Review . . . review . . . review . . . review . . . review . . . 


	4. Lovers

Read on! ^_^

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*****

****

**Chapter 4:**

****

They had been on the road for about an hour when they heard the sound of other vehicles behind them. Logan saw in the retro visor that an army truck was following them. He recognized the people from the chalet in the vehicle. He was ready to press on the little red button again, when he heard shooting. Bullets passed by, one hitting Logan in the elbow. Shania didn't notice, because Logan didn't say anything as his healing factor mended the wound.

"Don't move!" he heard Shany shout from behind.

She let go of his waist and turned on the left side of the motorcycle. She passed her legs in front of Logan, and was now facing him while he was driving. She sat, now holding onto Logan's back and pulled out her gun. 

She aimed at the glass windshield in front of the army truck and it formed a hole on the right side, shooting the driver between the eyes.

"Go!" she shouted at Logan, seeing that the truck was now heading for the ditch and that no other vehicle was following behind. 

Logan pressed on the little red button, and the speed augmented. Shania placed her gun back into her belt, but didn't go back behind Logan, to his bliss. She crossed her legs around his back and passed her arms around his neck as he continued driving. 

They rode in silence for a few hours, wanting to put the most distance between them and those men. Logan finally had to stop to refill, because they were running low on gas. 

The place where they stopped was a small village. The only buildings they could clearly identify were a bar, the gas station and the local store. One they guessed was a motel, and the others were stockrooms of some sort, or houses. 

While Logan was paying the man at the station, Shania, looked around. They were already late in the afternoon and passing the night on the road didn't excite her. 

"Hey, Logan," she asked to him before starting off on the road again. "Could we stop for the night in the next town?"

"Okay," he said as he mounted the bike again. 

Shania mounted behind him and they were off again. The next decent town was at more than three hours of road away, but it didn't take them to long to get there, comparing it at what time it would have taken without the little red button. When they stopped, their cheeks were red and they were both cold and starving. 

Logan parked in front of the motel and walked to the bar next to it, to see if they could still be served a decent meal. Shania went to the motel to reserve a room. After that, she joined Logan in the bar. Many folks turned their heads as she walked to Logan, because it was pretty rare to see beautiful women in these parts of Canada. They went back to their drinks after a good stare. Logan was the only thing that stopped them from walking over to her.

Shany sat in the chair next to him. 

The only good thing they got from the kitchen were two cheeseburgers. They both ate fast and ordered a beer afterwards. It was passed midnight when they came back to the motel. 

Shania walked in front of Logan, looking at the numbers on each door of the motel. She stopped in front of the last one, seeing the number twenty-one on it. She pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the door. The room was dark and she searched for the light switch as Logan came in behind her. She finally found the little switch. The room was decorated with bad taste, but it was still very suitable. There were two queen size beds separated by a night table, a television and a table with two chairs next to the window. Logan could see the bathroom door at the other end. Shany yawned and turned on the television. The news were on and a lady in a formal blue suit was talking about the mutant regulations that were going slightly off the mutants' side.

Logan took off his vest and threw it on the table. He turned towards the window and stretched his arms in the air.

He could see absolutely nothing outside.

"Hey!" he heard Shania exclaim. 

He turned around and saw her get up and walk to him.

"What?" he asked, looking at her turn to his back.

"You were shot," she said, alarmed. "There's a hole and blood on your shirt. Wait here," she said, running to the bathroom.

Logan heard the water tap run for a while, then nothing. She came back with a small wet towel in her hands.

"I really don't think its necessary," he said, thinking about his healing ability.

Instead of stopping she forced him to sit on the bed. Seeing that it was useless to try and stop her, he let her have it her way. He pulled off his shirt to her order and felt her sit behind him. A chill went down his spine as the cold towel came in contact with his skin. 

By now, she would have seen that there wasn't any wound, but there was probably blood where the bullet had hit. Shania cleaned the area and got up without saying anything. 

Logan saw her go back to the bathroom with the towel that was now a pinkish color. Logan didn't move, listening to what she was doing. When she came back out, her hair was untied and she had cleaned her face and hands. 

She walked to the television and turned it off. 

That's when she felt two strong arms tenderly pass around her waist. She felt her heart beat faster as she felt him get closer to her. Logan bent his head to her left and she closed her eyes, feeling him kiss the base of her neck. He kissed her over and over, making her lean lightly against him. Her arms passed slowly near his sides and passed around his neck, as he was pulled even closer. She smiled as he bit her elbow lightly, sending an electric current of emotions in her body as he kept on kissing her. Logan noticed her breathing getting faster. Unable to resist, she turned around, looked into his love filled eyes and leaned towards him. She pressed her lips against his, kissing him so passionately and ardently Logan thought he was drowning in love and desire. He gave her back the kiss fervently as her hands passed into his hair and back. Without stopping kissing her, he slowly pulled the fastener of her leather vest. It took him a while to find the right way to take it off, but it worked after a little resistance. He kissed her savagely, pressing her body against his as they enlaced each other with passion. He kissed her again, this time with more avidity and tenderness not being able to stop himself from touching her perfect body. She moaned as his hands glided in her back, on her hips and back to her neck. He stopped for an instant, taken aback by this woman of incomparable beauty, just waiting for him to caress and kiss her. He kissed her lips, her cheeks, her neck as her hands moved over his powerful muscles encouragingly. Shan's breathing was faster as she moaned, repeating Logan's name softly. Slowly they walked to the bed without taking their hands off each other. Logan searched for the light switch and turned it off as she pulled him towards the bed. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I'm sure you're thinking 'Wow that went almost too fast' but there is a reason it happened like that . . .

. . . . . . . . . hum. Well . . . it's not going to be a Mary-Sue. Not that I really see something against a Mary-Sue, but still.


	5. On the road again

Okay, now we know they love each other . . . but what happens when she knows Logan's a mutant? Read on and review . . .

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****

**Chapter 5:**

****

Logan opened his eyes, feeling the sunshine streaming inside the room. He looked at his side and smiled seeing Shania, lying on her chest on the pillow beside him, the feather blanket down to her waist. Her hair framing her face perfectly reflected red in the sunshine. Her arms were supporting her head. Logan stared at her closed eyes and partially open mouth. She was breathing at a steady rhythm. 

~What a night,~ he thought. Now Logan knew it was impossible for him to let her go. 

Shania stretched under the covers and instinctively moved towards the warmth, pressing herself against Logan. She passed her hands on his chest, her eyes still closed. After a long moment, she opened her eyes and looked up at Logan who was looking at her with adoration. She smiled and held him into an embrace. 

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, making her smile wider with delight.

"Not as much as I do," she said mischievously, giving him an Eskimo kiss on the nose.

"You'd be surprised," he said holding her.

They didn't move for a long time, whispering love words to each other. When they saw that it was almost noon, they both jumped out of bed and picked up their clothes that were spread out around the room. They got dressed, and walked out, leaving the key at the courtesy counter. They jumped on the bike and Logan continued his drive toward the United States. They drove until night came and just stopped to eat. They continued driving during the night because the barman had told them that people were looking for a man and a woman moving in a motorcycle. Shan' thanked him for his information and gave him one hundred dollars for his silence.

Shania had proposed to alternate the driving because Logan looked tiered after twenty hours of driving non-stop. Of course, he had refused. He didn't tell her but he smelt the men from the chalet almost every time they stopped. They were following them and Logan wanted to loose them. They were going slower because the red button didn't work as well, but they were still going faster than normal motorcycles. They were still human, so they had to stop sometimes to sleep a little. Shan knew Logan needed his sleep to go on, even if he didn't like showing it.

One day, they stopped in a little restaurant and Logan felt the need to talk to her seriously.

They were sitting in front of each other, in front of a red square table. 

"Shan," Logan started to get her attention. "There are many things about me that you should know," he said uncomfortably. 

Shania just looked at him, listening attentively.

"What is it hon?" she asked. 

"When we met, we didn't get to talk about ourselves because, well, people were after you or me and we had to run and all, but there's something about me that . . . well you might not like at all."

"Logan, I love you," Shany said, smiling at him. "And I know you're a mutant, honey."

Logan's eyes widened as a heavy weight flew off his heart. 

"You . . . you don't care?" he said, almost unbelievingly.

Shania's eyes twinkled as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"No," she said. "And there's something you need to know too."

Logan waited for her to talk.

"I'm a mutant too," she said with a large smile, visibly proud of herself.

 Logan smiled at his turn and they both laughed, to the other people's wonder. 

*~*~*~*~*

They continued their road during the next days, and stopped at a small motel again to sleep. They were both in bed, snuggling against one another when Logan smelled it again. The men from the motel were there.

"What is it?" a tiered Shany asked, feeling Logan shaking her lightly.

"The men," he whispered. "They're here."

Shania raised herself, as panic began to be visible on her face.

"Get dressed," Logan told her as he walked to the window. 

He couldn't see anything, but he knew they were there. Their smell gave it away. He got dressed and about two minutes later, he was asking Shania to stay behind him as he opened the door to get outside. The bike was five meters away. If they could just reach it, they would be one step ahead of them. Logan sniffed the air again, sensing that they were close, even if he couldn't see them. He made a step forwards, and then another, hearing Shania following him closely. He was almost at the bike when he heard a gun switch.

"Raise your hands to your head slowly," a voice said from his left.

"No sudden movements," another voice said, this time form his right side.

Logan growled as his hands formed fists and stayed down.

"Raise you're hands," the first voice said again.

Logan started obeying when suddenly he unsheathed his claws and cut the two guns that the men were holding. He heard Shany let out a little scream of surprise at the sight of his claws, then gunfires were heard not too far away and he pulled her to the bike, making sure that bullets wouldn't hit her. They mounted and Logan drove off, knowing that they were going to come after them. He sped on the road, arrived at an intersection about fifteen minutes later, and stopped.

He looked around and told Shany to hold on tight as he turned towards the bushes on the side of the road and drove in the snow. He got off quickly, hiding the traces on the side of the road. He then came back to Shania, and waited for the inevitable. A few minutes passed and they heard cars coming forwards. They were army jeeps. They stopped a few minutes in front of the intersection and split up. Two cars went on one side, and the other went on the other. When they were really gone, Logan brought the bike back to the road with Shania and drove off from where they came from. They were going to take the other road to get faster to the border. A question trotted in Logan's mind as he kept on driving. How had they found them so quickly?

A week later, they were in New York. He stayed there a while with Shania, trying restaurants and walking around together. She took money from her account in a bank and they went shopping for loads of things. She bought expensive clothing, a car and other things. She got Logan cleaner clothes to make him more gentleman-like. Of course, he didn't accept any suits and ties, but he was glad about the nice leather vests and jeans.

The men from the chalet hadn't been seen, or smelled in Logan's case. Two weeks later, when he was sure that they weren't following them anymore, Logan found it was safe to go back to the school.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay, next chapter is going to be at the school.

Reviews are appreciated, I'm sure you know that.


	6. Back to the school

Logan finally goes back to the school. What will the people think of Shania? I know I'll put that Jean doesn't like her. 

Damn, I still have to find a cool mutation for her. Help me dear readers! (And it has to be dangerous. Heheheheheh) Plus, it has to be evil because even the government wants her. Well, maybe they were after Logan . . . I wont tell you who they're after. Keep the suspense is my rule number two, after my rule number one, which is to put in a lot of trouble. I'll stick to rule number two for the next couple of chapters, then I'll add some rule number one. Yeah. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****

**Chapter 6:**

That day was a very special day. It was the first cloudless day since New Year' eve, equivalent to three weeks without sunshine. All the students were outside. Absolutely all, including the teachers. Most of the boys had divided each other in two teams and they all had taken time in building two gigantic snow forts. Of course, they made an enormous snowball fight in which the girls took place. Even the teachers had taken place in it. Storm had taken care of the snow supplies, Jean threw many with her power, and poor Cyclops had been attacked by all the students at the same time and he had used his optic beams to try and destroy all the snowballs before they reached him. He still received one behind the head and many in the chest, to the students' little joy.

The professor was inside, watching them form his office's window. It was what made him happy: seeing mutants contented and pleased. 

That was the day when Logan came back.

*~*~*~*~*

Scott ducked behind a snow heap to avoid another pack of snowballs directed at him. He heard Jean, laughing like a four year old on Christmas day. The sound brought a smile to his snowy face. He covered his face as he saw two snowballs change direction and swerve towards him, forcibly thrown by his fiancé. 

"Jean! . . . I thought . . . we were . . . on the same . . . team!" he shouted, cut off by spasms of laughter.

"What team, honey?" Jean said, throwing off a dozen other snowballs.

Storm ran off towards a group of trees, followed by a rush of wind. She saw the top of a bright orange hat behind a denuded bush, and formed a snowball with her gloved hands. She threw it and it hit the spot. It wiggled and Jubilee's head appeared, followed by Rogue and Kitty's. They both threw other balls towards Ororo and most of them hit her as they sheered with glee.

"Hey, here's one for you girls!" a voice said as the snow around the three teenagers turned to ice. Bobby's head appeared from the other side, making funny faces at Jubilee. 

Provoked, she made a step towards him, her gloved hands full with snowballs. She screamed as she slid and fell on the icy surface. Bobby's laugh was heard pretty far away. Pyro was trying to melt the opposite team's fort when Rogue came running from the main door, where she'd been hiding from Bobby.

"Jean!" she shouted on top of everyone's shouts. "There's a car at the gate!" 

The sound of a motor was heard as a silver Ferrari drove in. The students stayed further on the grounds, knowing that it was probably another teenager arriving or a visitor there to see the professor. Only the teachers and Rogue went forwards to see who it was. 

Rogue let out a little shout of surprise seeing Logan come out of the driver's place. He smiled seeing her.

"Hey, kid," he said with a wide grin. 

He saw Scott and Jean arrive together. An undistinguished sound came out of his mouth but wasn't noticed by anyone.

"One-Eye!" he said in cheerful/sarcastic way. "You missed me so much, you won't believe!"

Scott smiled evilly.

"Welcome back," Jean said to stop Scott from commenting.

"Did you find anything in Alberta?" Storm asked, ignoring the look Logan was giving her snow-patched coat. 

"Euh . . . No not at the base. Nothin' left at the base," he said vaguely.

That's when they noticed the other person on the other side of the car. Shania had her hair loose falling in the back of her gray coat. There was brown fur on the rims of the sleeves and hooded collar. It was a nice, slightly expensive-looking coat. 

Shania was looking up at the mansion, her face expressing astonishment. She took off the sunglasses from in front of her eyes and placed them on the top of her head with one of her gloved hands.

"Nice place you've got here," she said, without looking at them directly.

"And who is this?" Scott half-whispered, eyeing Logan who looked away. 

Shany stopped looking at the building and turned to them, smiling as she walked to their side of the car. 

"Shania Hales," she said, giving out her hand. 

Scott shook it first, then Storm, Rogue and Jean. They all looked expectantly at Logan to explain himself.

"Euh . . . we were attacked by government dudes in Alberta," he said, hoping that they wouldn't ask too much questions.  

"Oh . . . well, welcome!" Ororo said, breaking the silence. 

Rogue went back to her friends leaving the adults to walk inside to see the professor. 

Somehow, Jean didn't seem to keen of the newcomer, even if it didn't show too much. Maybe it was because Scott didn't take his eyes off her. 

They walked to the office on the second floor after having placed there coats elsewhere. 

The professor was sitting behind his desk when they arrived. He looked up from his papers. 

"Welcome back, Logan," he said with his pleasant smile. "Hello . . ." he paused, "Miss Hales. Welcome to my school."

"Thank you professor," she said, shaking his hand.

"I see the trip was okay," the professor said, a light smile on his face, making both Logan and Shan redden lightly. "Who were those men?"

"No idea," Logan said, glad to have changed the subject. "We think they were with the government. They had very good equipment and all. I'm still surprised by how fast they followed us. We lost them before arriving in New York."

They talked with the professor for some time, and then left with the others. Logan was left with Shania to show her around. After giving her a tour of the mansion, Logan was glad to see that the room he had used in his first visit had been left unoccupied. Nothing had been moved, and it was big enough for two people. He brought up his and Shan's stuff up to the room, from the car, then left her to go park the car in the garage. 

It was to say, he was glad she liked the school. While she was gone to the garage, he went to see Marie, who had found refuge in the library while all the other students were still outside. She was deeply absorbed in a book when he came in, and so didn't look up. 

Logan walked to the table where she was sitting.

"Hey Marie," he said, involuntarily making her jump. 

She turned around and saw him there, his hands in his pockets.

"Hi Logan," she said with a wide smile, closing the book.

"How ya been?" he asked walking forward.

"Pretty good," she said casually. "And you?"

"The same," he replied. "Good to see you again, even if I didn't leave that long ago. I see you've kept those dog-tags," he said, seeing the chain she was wearing around her neck.

She made a movement to take them off, but he stopped her.

"You can keep 'em," he said. "I don't need 'em, anyways."

"Thanks," she said. "Now, you are going to stay here, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he growled. 

She smiled again. 

"So, mind me asking who you came with?" she asked. "Shania Hales is it?"

Logan didn't say anything very quickly.

"Hey, I'm not going to go tell and all," she joked. "I have a part of you in my head. You can trust me with that. We can talk."

Logan smiled, looking at the teenager in front of him. It was true he knew he could trust her.

"I don't know why, but after I met her, no other woman interest me that much," he started, carefully choosing his words, unaware that he was hurting her feelings. "Like Jean, you know. You must know I was jealous of Scooter boy before, but not anymore, I think."

He sighed, leaning on the table.

"I guess I really love her."

He turned to Rogue and saw that she was smiling, some sort of sympathy in her eyes. 

"I'm happy for you," she simply said. 

A school bell was heard from the hallway.

"Well, I gotta go to my math class, but I'll see you later," Rogue said, walking towards the exit. She turned around before leaving, and smiled. "I'm glad you're back, Logan."

Wolverine smiled at her as she walked out. 

"Fine kid," he muttered to himself, taking out a cigar from his pocket and lighting it with a lighter. He took a breath, and let out a puff of gray smoke, still smiling to himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

If I ask you not to review, will you do it? 

Just review, okay. Make it easy for both you and I.


	7. Warning

This is one of my favourite chaps up to date. It sets in the jealousy. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 7:**

Logan finally decided to go look for Shan, seeing that she wasn't coming back. The first thing he did was to go look in their room. It was empty, as he thought it would be. The students were all in their classes, and so the hallways were all clear. He passed the greenhouse that Ororo was using as a classroom, and recognized some of the students he had seen in his first visit. One was of Asian origin and was wearing a bright yellow vest that stuck out like an ink spot on a white t-shirt. The second student he recognized was the one he had seen walking through the professor's door the first time he had spoken to him. Kitty. He also recognized two boys that he had seen with Rogue before he had left. 

He looked at Ororo's teaching for a moment, then left, finding Greek paintings as boring as their sculptures. Art wasn't his thing at all. He walked back to the library, then looked in the snow covered gardens, but Shania was nowhere to be found. Finally, his last option was the garage, which he knew should have been his first option.

He opened the door opening directly into the garage, looked around at the beautiful collection of cars and saw the silver Ferrari parked beside a blue Porsche. He walked to it and saw that Shania had left the keys, which wasn't in her habits since she cared a lot for her cars. He took the keys and locked the doors, just in case some of the students decided to try and have fun. 

Now really wondering where his girlfriend was, he walked back to the door, but noticed another exit on the other side of the garage. It was open, and so he walked to it. It took him a few seconds to register what he was seeing, and when he did, it was very visible that he didn't like it. He had found Shania in this part of the garage, but what he didn't like at all was seeing in who's company she was. 

Scott. 

He stood in the entry, his hands in his pockets, and was noticed by Shan, who was sitting on the nearest table, talking and laughing with '_Mr. Summers'. _

She smiled to Logan, and noticed the death glare he was giving to who she had been talking too. Scott was only looking at Logan, a light smile on his face, visibly amused. 

"Wanna go eat somethin', darling?" Logan asked to Shan, becoming 'normal' again. 

"Yeah, sure," she said, jumping to her feet. "I'm starving."

She picked up her coat, that she had placed on the table next to her, and walked out slowly, looking questioningly at Logan. She nodded to Scott and walked out, leaving the two men together, wondering if it was a bright thing to do. 

The second she left, Logan turned to Scott and saw the man smirk, walking to another door. 

"Hey, now you know how I felt when you talked to Jean," he said, a smile on his face. 

"Can you take an advice, Scooter boy?" Logan asked dangerously, Scott looking up to him. "Stay away from her. Messin' with her is bad for you're health."

Cyclops gave him a nasty smile, his visor glowing red.

 "Why?" he asked, knowing that he was playing with fire. "You're scared of loosing her, to someone else, eh?"

The Wolverine unsheathed his claws, turned around to walk to the door. His claws slid on the metal table, carving it deeply and making an awful noise. At the end of the table, he retracted his claws, and walked out, giving Scott one last glare before the table fell apart.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  


OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo . . . Wolvie is much too protective . . . conflict alert.    

Review! 


	8. Meeting

Hello again people. Thanks to everyone who reviewed up to date. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 8:**

Shania walked down the hall, holding her coat in front of her. She had no idea where the kitchen was, and knew Logan had just proposed her to go there because he wanted her to leave Scott. Personally, she found it very funny for him to act so childishly when she was talking to another man. 

She hoped he wouldn't do this all the time. Actually, she hopped he knew how much she loved him. If he did, he would know that she wasn't going to leave him for someone else. 

She turned a corner and started walking down another hallway. 

~Where the hell am I going?~ She asked herself, not recognizing any of the doors. 

Suddenly, she saw a door open on her left and Jean appeared in the hall, holding a pack of folders. 

"Hello," Shania said with a smile. 

Jean returned the smile, but Shania noticed that there was some sort of reluctance in it. She ignored it. 

"Tell me, where can I find the kitchen?" Shania asked politely. "I'm supposed to meet Logan there."

Jean just stared at her, an undefined look on her face.

"Take the first hallway to your left, then take the stairs and go right," Jean said finally, motioning her towards a crossing hallway. "It's right in front."

"Thanks," Shania said, walking away. 

As she passed Jean, she saw the red-haired woman look at her in an odd way, then continue her way.  

~Hum, well she doesn't seem to like me too much,~ Shania thought as she stared walking. 

Finally, she reached the kitchen, and saw her lover sitting in a high stool in front of a rather large window that gave a perfect view of the gardens. He was sipping a beer silently and glanced in the entrance's direction when she came in.

"Where ya been?" he asked, turning the bench around to face her.

 "Got lost," she simply said. "This place is so big. Met Jean and she showed me the way."

Logan's eyes rose lightly in Shania's direction at the mention of Jean. 

"So," Shania continued. "How did you find this place?" 

Now Logan was stuck. He didn't know if he should talk to her about the X-Men so soon. He didn't want to agree to the fact that he didn't know much about her. It was to say, Shania never talked about herself or her past. There was just something about her that Logan loved, and it was that that astonished him: he didn't know what it was. 

"Well, I found this kid up north, her name's Rogue, and we sort of got into trouble with another mutant . . . Sabertooth. Scooter and Storm were there and they helped us out, then they brought us back here," Logan said. "And then I met Xavier."

"He's a fine man to have done all this," Shany said, walking towards him and sitting beside him. "I mean, he's done all this for mutants." 

"Yes he is a great man," Logan said, glancing at Shania. 

She smiled. 

"So," she continued. "You think this place is . . . safe? Well, you know . . . from those people from Alberta. There are children here, and innocent people."

Logan didn't speak very quickly, analysing the question.

"Yes, it's safe," he said finally. "It's safe for us, and them."

"Good," Shania said, her elbow on the high counter, holding the side of her head, simply looking at Logan, who wondered why she would do that. Just stare at him. 

"Tell me, what was all that about, in the garage?" she asked, after a while.    

Logan growled.

"Nothing," he said, even if he knew she wasn't taking it. "It's just that . . . me and Scooter aren't in good terms."

"Well I can see that," Shania half whispered, smiling to herself.

"I think I'm gonna go rest a little," Logan said, getting up and stretching his arms above his head.

"Well I'm going to go look around a bit more," Shan said, kissing him before exiting. "I'll see you later," she added mischievously before getting out. 

*~*~*~*~*

During the rest of the afternoon, Shania had plenty of time to look around the whole mansion. She discovered the library, the common room, where the dorms were located, and met some of the students who were interested in knowing who she was. She met Ororo again and was able to count her as another person who wasn't hostile with her. In fact, Ororo was very interested in Shania, not only because she was new at the school, but also because she was an interesting person to talk too. Storm was vaguely wondering if she was going to become an X-Men, like them. 

It was to say, Storm had noticed that the professor was keeping an eye on the girl, as if he was trying to evaluate if she was worthy of their trust. The odds were that she was. 

*~*~*~*~*

Around seven o'clock, Logan came to get her to bring her to dinner, which took place in a very big dinning hall with, of course, Ororo, Scott and Jean, and some of the students. We could count Rogue, Bobby, Jubilee and Kitty among them. 

The professor, sitting at the end of the table came to ask a few questions to Shania in the middle of the meal. 

"So, miss Hales," The professor started, interrupted by his interlocutor who asked him to call her Shania. "Well, Shania, we all know that you are a mutant, but what are your powers?" 

A few of the people around the table looked at Shania, who just stared blankly at the professor in an odd way. She opened her mouth, but didn't speak, as she search for words. 

"I . . . I have no idea," she said finally, to many people's surprise. 

The professor looked at her, as if telling her to continue. 

"You might think this is stupid, but I know I'm a mutant. I just . . . don't know what I can do." 

"You don't remember," the professor said, not really questioningly but more as a matter of fact.   

There was a moment of silence as Shania looked at his a strange way.

"You could put it that way, I guess," Shania said, visibly not comfortable. 

She noticed Logan looking at her, along with many other people. 

"Well, I'm sure we could help you figure out what it is," she heard Scott say, from the other side of the table. 

She interiorly sighed of relief that someone had closed the subject. She looked at Scott for a moment, who had now turned back to his plate and wasn't paying attention to anything else. She looked back at her plate, took a bite of her steak, and had the strange feeling that someone was looking at her. She looked back up and saw Jean, looking at her in the same odd way. Their eyes met and Jean looked down, now talking to Bobby. Shania recognized him as one of the students that had talked to her. 

 The professor started another conversation, this time with a young Asian teenager with a bright yellow vest. People quickly started talking again. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" she heard Logan whisper in her ear, making her faint smile disappear. 

She didn't turn to look at him, recognizing some sort of adversity in his voice, as if he thought she couldn't trust her. 

"Logan . . . It's just . . . it's nothing," she tried to say. "It's not important. I just didn't want to bug you with that. I don't like talking about my past," she whispered.

She felt him go back to his plate, still unconvinced.

For the rest of the dinner Shania talked to a few of the students, getting to know them a little. 

It was then that she realized something about herself: She liked knowing people, and knowing about them, but she could never talk about herself. Somehow, she just couldn't. Maybe it was because she didn't like it. 

*~*~*~*~*

After dinner, they all decided that they were going to watch a movie in the common room. The students were given twenty minutes to get into their pyjamas and in the mean time, the teachers chose the two movies they were all going to watch. A little pushed by some of the students, Scott was forced to choose The Lord of the Rings and the latest James Bond. Two very long movies. 

They was all installed around the large screen TV, the students on cushions and sleeping bags in front, and the teachers more in the back, on sofas. 

Forgetting the incident during dinner, Logan and Shania cuddled in the back, whispering little things to each other during the movie, almost ignoring the others.

Jean and Scott were to their right in the next sofa, being a lot less demonstrative in their affection for each other. Sure, Scott had an arm around Jean's shoulders but it wasn't the same image than Shania and Logan. 

After watching the first movie, Shania noticed that a girl was sometimes looking back at her and Logan. She had two white streaks in her hair, and somehow didn't look too happy. Shany sighed deeply. Another one that didn't seem to like her much. She was just starting to wonder if it was because she was with Logan, and that made her smirk.  

*~*~*~*~*

It was already midnight when they had finished watching the two movies, and all were ready to fall asleep right in the common room. Pushed by the teachers, the students slowly regained their rooms, followed by their superiors who didn't even come and check if everyone was in bed. 

Around one in the morning, once everyone was asleep, Scott got dressed again and walked out of his room, careful of not waking Jean or anyone else. At the end of the hall, he made sure Logan and Shania were also asleep and then he walked down to the garage. 

He carefully opened the door, started his car and drove off into the night. There was someone he had to see. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

No, he's not cheating on Jean. I could have put something like that, but I already know what to do. *Niark, niark . . .*

Review! 


	9. Different people with different feelings

Hello everyone . . . 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****

**Chapter 9:**

Shania slowly woke from a dreamless sleep. She yawned, and opened her eyes as she stretched under her blankets. She sighed contently feeling Logan's arm under her neck. Turning sideways, she saw her man, his eyes closed, sleeping serenely. She smiled.

Usually, he was always awake when she woke up. It was the first time she was actually seeing him sleep. 

She looked at him for a long time, admiring him. She understood why Jean was jealous. Because Logan was truly someone to be envious over for. What she didn't understand was that the red-haired beauty already had a man, and a good one at that. Plus, they were fiancés. 

She ran her finger in Logan's messed up hair.

But for the younger one? The other was barely twenty!

She ran her finger around his cheekbone, around his eyes and lips, an adoring smile illuminating her features.      

Time passed and he still didn't seem close to awake. The thought of bringing him breakfast in bed crossed her mind, as she decided she should get up. Careful not to make too much movement so Logan could keep sleeping, she swung her legs to her side of the bed when she felt an arm pass around her waist, pulling her back in. Logan made some sort of muffed noise, and she smiled. 

"You're not going anywhere, bub!" he said, his words drowned in the pillow his face was hidden in, as he pulled her even closer. "I'm not finished with you." 

Shany giggled.

*~*~*~*~*

In Jean's room, both she and her fiancé were getting up, ready for another day in the mansion. Jean was cleaning herself up in the bathroom and Scott was literally in his drawer, trying to figure out which shirt he should wear today. 

Jean walked back in to her dresser and figured out that she was going to wear a red skirt with a matching top, before walking back into the bathroom, with her clothes. 

Scott looked at her go, visibly noticing that something was wrong with his fiancé, and he thought he knew just what it was. 

"So," he started to say to her from the room. "Logan's back."

There was no response, and Scott smiled to that. 

"And with someone," he continued, trying to see if it was going to give an effect. 

"That doesn't surprise me," he heard her say smugly, and visibly not sounding too happy. "How long do you think it's going to last?"

Scott's eyes widened with curiosity under his glasses. 

"What?"

"How *long* do you think it's going to last?" Jean repeated, her head popping out of the bathroom. 

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, slightly surprised of her attitude. "They look perfect for each other."

Jean's eyebrows raised in antipathy.

"No," she said firmly. "Frankly, can you believe it? Can you truly fall in love after knowing someone for two days? You heard their story at dinner yesterday! She saved him from hypothermia. And what next? They're in love."

Scott smiled a redundant smile.

"Well it's called love at first sight," he said, pulling on a chemise. 

He heard her sigh in disapproval as she walked back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Once she disappeared in the next room, Scott turned, looking at the door she had walked through, an anxious look on his face. Was she still stuck on Logan? Suddenly, Scott's visor went incredibly bright, a frown appearing on his features. 

*~*~*~*~*

Two hours later, Shania was on her way to the kitchen, dressed and ready for what this day was going to give her. She was wearing black pants and a small tank top, which left her too denuded to be in the school, so she had added her leather vest on top. 

She had finally understood the whole map of the school and could now find her way pretty easily. 

When she arrived in the kitchen, she noticed a few students munching on some toasts, pancakes, eggs and bacon that Ororo was preparing, moving form the fridge to a bowl, then to the counter and toaster before running back to the stove where more eggs were being done. At the same time, there was a brown haired teenager, around the age of twenty, sitting crossed legged on the nearest chair, talking to her while shuffling a deck of cards. At first Shany thought he looked absolutely normal, until she saw his flame-red eyes. 

A few students like Bobby and Kitty saluted her. Rogue was sitting between them but didn't even turn in her direction, ignoring her completely. 

"Hello, Shania!" Ororo said, handling a large plate of pancakes to a bunch of students, unaware that there were large marks of flour on her cheeks and nose. "What would you like to eat? Pancakes, eggs, toasts, bacon, sausages? You name it."

"Wow," Shania whispered. "Well, I'll have . . . some of everything!"

Ororo smiled before turning back to the stove.

"Can I help?" she asked, walking towards the counter. 

"If you want too," Storm said, placing a bag of flour on the counter, in front of a few empty bowls. 

"I'll do the pancakes then," she said, grabbing an apron that hung on the wall.    

She started cracking eggs into a bowl, aware that Ororo was watching her curiously. She poured in some flour after having mixed the eggs properly, then added milk. Again she mixed everything until it was only a plain yellow substance. She added some sugar, then let it rest on the counter while chewing on some bacon.    

Five minutes later, Logan arrived in the kitchen, waved to Rogue who smiled widely. He walked to Shania and kissed her on the lips, making a few girls in the room sigh interiorly. 

"So, what's cooking?" he asked, looking around the counter. 

"I'm doing pancakes," Shany said joyfully. "Just like back home."

"Ah, where are you from, by the way?" Ororo asked, deserving plates from one of the tables. 

"Canada," Shania answered. "I've lived there for as long as I can remember. First it was in Quebec, then in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta was my last spot for the past year."

Scott and Jean arrived and seated not too far away, each taking a cup of coffee before sitting down.

"And you lived alone?" Scott asked, following the conversation. 

". . . well, I had my dogs . . . but yes, I've lived alone for the past . . . five years, approximately," Shania said, pouring some of her pancake dough in a pan. "Before that . . . I lived with other people I knew."

She visibly didn't want to go into details, and so everyone respected that, even though Jean seemed interested in knowing more. 

*~*~*~*~*

They all ate together, and after that, Scott went down to the garage, probably to fix his cars or something. Jean went down to the med lab and Ororo left to take care of her garden, so Shania and Logan were left to decide what they were going to do. 

*~*~*~*~*

Down in the med lab, Jean went directly to her office and sat in her chair, an inquisitive look on her face. Now she was very curious of knowing about Shania's past, but it wasn't just to satisfy her need to know about nearly everything, but more to try and find something to hurt Shania or her relation with Logan.  

Oh, but it wasn't necessarily because of Shany that Jean hated her. It was because she was with Logan, and that he wanted to be with her, preferring her to Jean. That pissed her off really bad. If Shany had arrived at the school any different way, Jean would have accepted her very well and they would already be very good friends, but because Logan had his eyes on someone else, that was the true reason of her hatred for Shania. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't have who she wanted. Yes, she loved Scott immensely, but Logan was the Wild Card. He was almost Scott's right contrary, but still looked so exciting to be with, that she caught herself thinking about him in a way an engaged woman shouldn't, and Shania's presence didn't help anything.

Jean sneered threateningly, making a vase explode with her power. 

*~*~*~*~*

Shortly after noon, Logan disappeared to go work out in the gym, and Shania decided to go look around outside. Not many students were out yet probably because of the cold, but there were still a small group of boys playing basketball on the court Pyro had taken the time of melting. There were also some girls walking around, talking, and a few younger kids building a snowman.  

Shania came to walk towards the farthest place on the grounds, near the large redbrick wall covered by frozen wild vines and hidden by tall leafless trees and empty large bushes. There was a stone bench there and she decided to rest there, where no one would bother her.

Or at least she thought. Shortly after her arrival, Rogue came walking by. Shania didn't move from her place, leaning on the trunk of the closest tree. Rogue didn't notice her at first, playing with the dog tags around her neck, humming to herself with an inexpressive look on her face. She was wearing a blue winter coat and had gloves on but had nothing on her head. 

Her eyes widened when she noticed Shany sitting not too far away, and she somewhat frowned, turning around and ready to walk away.

"So, you're the one Logan told me about," Shania said without moving from her spot. 

Rogue stopped and looked over her shoulder, visibly interested. 

"He . . . he talked about me?" she asked timidly, momentarily forgetting to who she was talking. 

"Sure he does," Shania continued. "He told me everything starting from the moment he met you back in Alberta, to after the Liberty Incident."

Rogue caught herself smiling, and quickly tried to hide it. 

"Well . . . I should get going," she mumbled, walking away without adding anything. 

Shania smiled to herself, eyebrows cocked up and a calm look on her face. She stayed there for a while, knowing that she was alone and that now most of the students were back in the mansion, probably staying in the common room. Logan would have finished his work out by now and would probably go looking for her, and so she got up from her place, walking slowly in the snow. 

But someone was watching, not that far away, standing on the wall delimiting the school grounds to the rest of the world. This person, hidden by the tall branches of the trees below, was a man, probably in his late mid thirties maybe going towards his forties even though he looks much younger than that. He was very tall, but didn't look at all as strong as Logan. He was slim, had a mix of silver and blond hair, and was wearing a long trench coat under which were black clothes. He was also wearing army boots and fingerless gloves covered his hands that were resting in his pockets. Black sunglasses covered his eyes and there was a cigarette in his mouth. He was placed against the wind so his odour couldn't be brought towards the school, and it was as if he was immune to cold, even though he was wearing what seemed to be light articles of clothing not at all made for winter. He looked over the grounds with an unresponsive look on his face. His eyes lingered on Shania before turning towards the entrance where Logan had appeared. His left had came out of his pocket and he took out the cigarette from his mouth, holding it between his index and middle finger as he blew out a cloud of smoke, a small smile appearing on his face. He pulled out his other hand, holding out a cell phone. He pressed on a number and brought the phone to his ear as he inhaled another smoke from his cigarette. 

"Yes, general," he said into the receiver. "Yep, I found her alright."

He hung up, removing his sunglasses, as he looked at the school one last time. His silvery grey eyes glowed dangerously, eyeing Shania who was now being held in a loving embrace by Logan. 

He took his cigarette out of his mouth and threw it in the bushes, putting back his glasses on his nose.  He turned towards the side of the road and jumped from the five metre high wall. He arrived on the not-so-snow-covered-land, one hand on the ground. He got up, dusted off a patch of snow from his shoulder as he walked towards a black car that was parked not too far away. Before entering the vehicle, the man turned around, and looked at the school's gate with a menacing glare. 

"Oh, I'll get you, my dear," he muttered. "You can count on me for that."

He entered his car, started the engine and drove off. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Now you have the right to try to guess who he is. He could be, her ex-boyfriend, her husband (?), her hated (step)brother, a good ol' plain enemy, someone working for the government dudes, or someone else. HELP ME OUT! (I have an idea but I want to see if you guys can give me a better one) 

Next chapter coming in SOON. 


	10. Rain

So here is chapter 10. I know, I was supposed to update sooner, but I wanted to wait for reviews.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  


**Chapter 10:**

  
Logan stood near his bedroom window, looking outside at the grounds of the school. It was nigh time, and it was literally raining cats and dogs, lightening occasionally illuminating the whole room, a flash of light in the total darkness that surrounded everything. It was mostly Ororo's fault since she had got an awful cold, and had made all the snow disappear in less than an hour. It was about fifteen degrees outside, and it was getting colder by the hour too. Now, Ororo was sleeping calmly in her room, but Mother Nature had decided to finish her work, and now there they were, stuck inside while a gigantic thunderstorm took place outside. Logan sighed.  
His arms crossed in front of him, he looked back at his bed where Shany was sleeping, unaware that he was up. The sound of thunder was heard outside again and he looked back at the window. So many questions were rushing through his head and he was surprised that he hadn't thought of them before. Most of these questions were about Shania. He didn't know much about her, and he was starting to get curious.  
She turned under the covers as thunder was heard again.  
Who was she?  
The wind blew, making the branches in the trees outside shake violently.  
Logan kept his eyes locked on her as she turned again, as if looking for him in her sleep. He walked slowly to the side of the bed, taking her hand in his.  
She was so gorgeous, it was almost outrageous. Was it the only reason he felt attracted to her? At first, he had wondered about that, but deep down he knew the answer: no. It wasn't at all. It was her personality, her laugh, how she answered him, how she looked at him, the fact that she loved him, that she cared for him, that she wanted to be with him.  
Logan smiled before slipping back under the covers, passing a protective arm around her shoulders.  
*~*~*~*~*

Thunder illuminated the room again, this time joined by a terrific blow that woke Shania up immediately. Her reflex was to get into an upward position, but she was stopped by Logan's arm. She turned in his direction, giving him a sweet look before pushing his arm away very slowly, for him to not wake up.  
She swung her legs to the side of the bed, and got up. She quickly slipped on a pair of blue silk pyjamas, pants and long-sleeved top with buttons. She abandoned her slippers where they were, and walked out of the room, careful not to wake up Logan with the door.  
In the hallway, she stopped, taken aback by the deep silence lying there. She made no noise on the carpeted floor, walking, or rather running, on the tip of her feet. She stopped near the stairs, listening it she was being followed, before continuing again, jumping to the first floor before having reached the fifth stair. She turned around, a satisfied look on her face as she glared happily at the large amount of stairs she had just jumped. Smiling mischievously to herself, she turned around, continuing towards the kitchen. She found no one there, and frowned to that. In the common room, she didn't find anyone too.  
She jumped to the sofa and sat down a wide smile on her face. For some reason, she would have loved to go dancing tonight, but Logan didn't know yet that she was a party animal. Her smile faded away and her face was impregnated by a dreamy wonder. Logan didn't know much about her, and she felt the questions were coming *very* soon. If it there was one thing she wanted to avoid, it was questions; but she knew she would have to face them one day or another.  
She turned her head, looking towards one of the windows of the room, against which the rain was tapping hard. A sparkle illuminated her eyes as she jumped back to her feet, this time running towards the door. She carefully flicked the lock, and opened it without making it squeak. Stepping outside, she shivered to the contact of the cold and wet pavement. She jumped on place, maybe to adjust to the chilly temperature, or maybe to prepare herself to sprint across the wet lawn, since it was the next thing she did. She crossed the basketball court in less time the eye needs to blink, and had reached the line of trees in a matter of seconds.  
Her favourite sport was running, and it often came in handy. She leaned against one of the pine trees, not at all covered by its thin branches, and so letting the rain fall onto her.  
She waited in that position for quite a while, wondering about what was going on in her life. Before she knew it, she was running around again, doing cartwheels and desperately trying to get all that adrenaline out of her body.  
After three other summersaults, she stopped, her smiled fading away from her face. Someone was standing not too far away, leaning on one of the trees, arms crossed, looking at her with amusement. Well, at least, it was the only way she would have imagined his or her face, since it was hidden under the hood of a cloak.  
"Devil's got you again, Darling?" the person said, the voice belonging to a man.  
Shania must have recognized him since a menacing look appeared on her usually radiant face. She seemed almost ready to attack.  
"Don't call me that!" she spat. "What the hell are you doing here, you fucking bastard?"  
"Oh please, a lady with such beauty shouldn't use those words," the man said mockingly. "And I was just watching your little spectacle . . . of course, you know what it means, don't you?"  
Shania stayed silent.  
"You weren't thinking that you would be able to hide it all your life, now were you?" the man continued. "Sooner or later, you'll be forced to use your mutation. It's in your blood . . . you can't stop it. I was just wondering if you were going to use it. I mean, it's quite a show when you do. I wouldn't want to miss it. And plus, your on a school property with children, so it would have been entertaining."  
Now Shany was almost ready to run back to the mansion.  
"Oh, don't go now, pretty face," the stranger continued. "I'm not finished. You thought you could just run off like that, didn't you? There coming back, you and I know it. All you can do is decide how you are going to go back: with me, ore with them. Think about it, angel face. With me you have a chance. Not with them."  
"Shit, you really didn't get is, heh?" Shania said, making a single step back. "I'd rather die of torture than to go back with you, to go back to the life you forced me to have."  
The man, now standing a few metres away didn't look happy about that remark.  
"And by the way, I have someone in my life," Shania said, vaguely showing the mansion. "He-"  
"Ah yes . . . I saw him," the man said. "Logan . . . isn't it?"  
Shania turned white, and it took her a while to clearly get the facts.  
"For . . . for how long have you been watching me?" she said, desperately trying to kept her calm.  
The man smiled evilly.  
"Ever since you left your hideaway, back in Alberta, where you were hiding from your past," he said. "But they'll get the information they want from you."  
"Well, over my dead body," Shania said.  
"No," the man objected. "Over your friends'."  
A second later, the man had disappeared as tears of anger started to form in Shany's eyes.  
*~*~*~*~*  
Scott opened his eyes, woken by the tempest going on outside. He turned sideways, looking at the form, Jean, not too far away in the bed. She was sleeping like a baby, totally ignoring what was going on outside. Scott waited a few minutes, in silence, listening to the tapping of the rain on his window. Some people liked the sound, saying that it was soothing, but he found it VERY annoying. Not being able to shut out the noise and get back to sleep, he got up, walking to the window. His eyes widened seeing a blue silhouette jumping around on the grounds. He grinned, recognizing the person as Shania. Well she was a wild card, he thought, looking at her go for a while. She stopped, sitting down on the grass, looking up at the rain and thunder.  
Scott waited, just looking at her when he suddenly decided to go down an join her. He wasn't the type to go outside in that storm, but he could wait for her near the door. They could have a cup of hot chocolate to warm themselves up and talk, since both of them seemed to not be able to sleep. He turned around, ready to walk out, when his eyes stopped on Jean, making him come back to the fact that if Shania was outside, Logan couldn't be too far.  
He waited a moment, thinking.  
No. Logan would be sleeping too, like Jean. The coast was clear. He could approach her.  
Walking to the door, he made sure he didn't do any noise, walking down the hallway and down the stairs, slowly and quietly.  
He waited about twenty minutes, in the kitchen and by the door, before realizing that maybe he should do best to go and get her. He took his coat and walked outside. She wasn't near the basketball court, and the tree line wasn' the best place to be and so he supposed she was on the lawn somewhere.  
His deduction had been right and Shania was sitting in the middle of a part of the grounds, where there were no trees or obstacles. She was looking to the sky, when suddenly, she let herself fall backwards.  
Scott accelerated his pace and arrived to Shania hoping she wasn't hurt or anything.  
"Shania?" he said, aware of the rain falling on both of them.  
Looking at her, he noticed that her pyjamas were completely soaked and stuck to her body, showing off her curves. It was silk, and so was cold, and the temperature and rain didn't help anything. In fact, she seemed to be freezing.  
"Shan?" Scott repeated, getting closer and kneeling down.  
This time she turned her head sideways, looking at Scott as if she couldn't recognize him. Her eyes seemed to gaze off into the unknown, as she stayed silent for a moment, until she blinked.  
"I'm cold and I can't move," she said, recognizing Scott.  
"At least you can talk," Scott said, giving her his hand to help her up.  
She took it and it was then Scott noticed how cold she was. He helped her up, and she held onto him as they walked back to the mansion. Scott took her to the common room where a fire was lit up in the chimney, thanks to Pyro. He pushed one of the sofas in front of it and installed Shania there, almost scared by the way she fell limply onto it, her head falling backwards. He ran to one of the cupboards, pulling out a few thick blankets that he wrapped around her. She took them without a word, looking at the flames.  
He prepared some coffee, bringing two cups back to the common room. He pushed an armchair close to the sofa in which Shania was sitting. She took the cup and drank it by little sips.  
After a few minutes, she turned to Scott, smiling.  
"Well, thank you," she said. "I don't think I would have been able to get back in without your help."  
"Yeah, I saw you running around from my room window," Scott said.  
Shany chuckled, but her laugh faded away.  
"You saw . . . only me?" she asked cautiously.  
"Yep," Scott answered innocently, sipping some of his coffee. "Why? Some one else was running around in the rain?"  
"No," Shania said rather quickly. "No."  
There was a moment of awkward silence as they both drank their coffee.  
"So, how is it going with Logan?" Scott finally dared to ask.  
Shania was a bit surprised by the question.  
"Oh, everything is fine," she said quickly. "How about you?"  
"Ah . . . yeah," Scott said vaguely, knowing that he wasn't giving an answer. Luckily, Shania accepted his reply without other questions.  
"Well, I better go up and change before I catch my death," Shany said after a long while of silence, getting up from her seat and feeling that her pyjamas were still very wet. "So I'll see you tomorrow, then. And . . . I was wondering if you could . . . avoid saying that I almost fell unconscious out there . . . I wouldn't want Logan or anyone else to worry . . . I don't care about you saying that I was outside even with that sort of temperature, since everyone is going to know: I'll probably have a nice cold tomorrow . . . Well, goodnight Scott, and thank you again."  
Scott listened in a kind of hypnotic gaze, secretly admiring the physical beauty of the woman.  
"G-goodnight," he mumbled looking at her go.  
Long after her departure, her image was still stuck in his mind.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Review!!!


	11. On the team

Thought I had abandoned this story, eh? WRONG!!! Here's a long chapter to try to be forgiven.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 11:**

Shania woke up very slowly to the sound of someone repeating her name, and the feeling of a hand nudging her lightly. She moaned in discontentment and turned around to face the person that was trying to wake her up, without opening her eyes. 

"Honey, its quarter past noon, you're sure you don't want to get up?" she head Logan's familiar voice ask. 

Shania grunted in disapproval.

"You don't feel well?" Logan continued, feeling concerned. "You're boiling. Want me to bring you to Jean?"

Shania almost screamed at the sound of that woman's name. She absolutely wasn't in the mood to confront the red-head in a verbal attack, as she sensed the woman was going to lecture her about her unstable life and that she was better off away from Logan. Shany didn't need to be a psychic to figure that out. The words were written all over Jean's face every time she got near.    

"No, it's okay," she said, snivelling as she reached for the Kleenex box on the bedside table. "I just want to sleep."

Logan got up and walked to the bathroom, sighing deeply. He came out a few moments later, holding Shania's wet pyjamas, a vaguely curious look on his face. Shany smiled seeing him in the doorway with that look on his face.

"I . . . I went outside just for a little fresh air during the night," Shany mumbled, whipping her moist forehead with the back of her hand.  

"In that weather?" Logan shouted. "What-"

"Never mind," Shania interrupted, turning over and pulling the covers with her. "I just stayed a little too long outside . . . You must be starving. Go eat, I'm just going to sleep a little more."

"Fine," Logan whispered in her ear before kissing her. "I'll see you later then."

Shania heard him rise from her side and silently walk away, closing the door once he was in the hallway. She sighed and opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling. 

*~*~*~*~*

Shania only got out of bed in the middle of the afternoon, to take a cold shower to try to get her temperature to cool down. It somewhat worked and, feeling her stomach growling for food, she got dressed and descended to the kitchen where she helped herself with a turkey sandwich. 

After that, she got dressed and took a walk outside, on the now snow covered grounds. Storm was obviously feeling better. By the time she got back inside, her temperature had regained it's initial warmth. 

She talked with some of the students, learning things about them, and in 'exchange', they wanted to hear how she had gotten to know the Wolverine. Shany told them the truth, of course, but dispensed herself from telling certain details. 

Around six o'clock, Logan and the others were requested in the professor's office, for an important talk. Shan had no idea what the subject of their conversation was, and wasn't very curious about it. She didn't like prying in other people's business, as she didn't like people prying in hers. 

Some time later though, Ororo came to get her, telling her that the professor wanted to speak with her. Starting to get interested, Shany accepted the invitation and followed Storm to the professor's office.  The others were walking out when she arrived, and she noticed the glare Jean gave her as she passed her, looking very unpleased about what they had talked about.

The door closed behind her and she was left alone with the professor. She turned to him with a smile, waiting for him to initiate the conversation. 

"Good morning, Shania," he said, ever so calmly. "Please take a seat."

Shany walked to one of the seats he was indicating, seriously starting to wonder what he wanted to talk about. She just prayed that he wasn't going to question her about herself. 

"How are you feeling?" the professor asked, Shania giving him a quizzical look at his question as she asked herself is he knew about what had happened last night. 

*He's a psychic,* she reminded herself. *I don't think Scott would have told him.*

" . . . Fine, professor," she answered finally. "Thank you for your concern."

The professor smiled warmly and Shania felt a rush of affection towards that old man who was one of the rare people who cared about her well-being. He reminded her of what a father was supposed to be like. 

"Do you feel ready to hear what I have to say?" he asked. 

Shania didn't say anything, but nodded slowly. 

"Now, this is information that you must keep to yourself," he said, getting serious. "Logan approved that you were intending to stay here, and if you are, there are certain things you must know . . . about this . . . 'school'."

*~*~*~*~*

Fifteen minutes later, Shania walked out of the office, a wide, mischievous smile on her lips. The others were right there, seeming to have waited at the door during the whole conversation. Scott, Logan and Ororo smiled, welcoming her on the team, while Jean pretended to be reading a paper of some sort.  

Ororo walked away and Scott strolled away with Jean seeing Logan march towards Shania. She smiled at him. 

" 'X-Men' ?" she asked playfully, making him chuckle loudly.

*~*~*~*~*

Three days passed with no incident whatsoever for the residents at the mansion. Logan and Shania spent time together, Scott worked in the garage most of the time, while Jean was in the med lab and Ororo took care of the kids. 

One day, the professor announced that the X-Men were all going to go get a teenage mutant in Baltimore, having the power to hear other's thoughts. She was in a state of deep depression and they needed to reach her quickly, or else she would only be good for the asylum, seeing that she was quickly slipping into madness. 

The others were down in the lower levels, changing into their uniforms when the professor had called Shania up in his office again. 

"Shania, there was one last thing that I wanted to discus with you," he said as she sat down. "I wanted . . . to hear . . . the reason why you refuse to tell us your mutation. I've figured out that you know perfectly well what it does, and yet-"

"My mutation is of no importance, professor," Shania interrupted. "I have no intention in using it. Ever."

"But why?" the professor asked. "A mutant refusing to use his attributed powers is like a bird refusing to fly."

"Well in my case it's like a skunk refusing to stink," she said coldly.

The professor leaned back in his wheelchair, accepting that she wanted to keep that information to herself. 

"At least keep in mind that I am willing to help you, if you ever change your mind," he said. 

Shania smiled, got up and walked out of the room, to get into her new X-Men uniform and join the others. 

*~*~*~*~*  

Sitting in the jet next to Logan, who was holding her hand, Shania looked around at the others, all seeming to be used to all of this. Uniforms, a jet . . . she would have never thought that the professor had all of this. She had thought it was only a school. And she smiled seeing how wrong she had been. 

The girl named Rogue was sitting further in the front. Shany had been told that there were also other members, such as a boy going by the name of Pyro, a boy she knew named Bobby, one nicknamed Gambit and two girls named Kitty and Jubilee. They hadn't been asked to come since they were simply retrieving a mutant.  

To what she had seen, it seemed that Scott was the leader of the group, being the one that gave out the orders and flew the jet. Ororo was the co-pilot, Jean sat behind them with Rogue, and Logan and herself were behind.

"Are flights always this silent?" she whispered to Logan, making him smile. 

"Never really thought of it, but I don't think so," he whispered back. 

Logan squeezed her hand a bit and she stayed silent for a while, only breaking the silence to complain about the absence of windows. 

"And why didn't we just take a car?" she asked, trying to form some sort of conversation. "Can't the government trace down the jet? It is illegal, isn't it?" 

"Nothing can trace down the jet, and so it is obviously illegal," Scott answered without looking away from the windowpane through which thick clouds could be seen. "And we couldn't have taken a car, because we need to arrive to this mutant quickly, before the authorities get her."

"And so . . . Jean is going to sort of stop her mind from catching other people's thoughts, or something?" Shania continued. 

Jean looked at her for a moment, not even trying not to look bothered by her presence. 

"No," Scott answered. "The professor will do that."

"Ah," Shania simply said. "So . . . are we there yet?"    

*~*~*~*~*  

The jet landed some time later right outside Baltimore, close to a friendly-looking neighbourhood. Since it was nighttime, they didn't have to worry about being seen. They simply walked to the house Jean designated, knocked and entered, walked up the stairs and arrived to the girl's totally up side down room.   

Storm was the first to enter, followed by Jean and Scott, but Logan stayed outside with Rogue and Shania. 

Shan got a glimpse of the girl in the room, and immediately knew that something was wrong, or that they were going a mistake. 

The girl, seeming pretty young, was sitting on her bed, curled up in a corner, both hands clasped tightly on her ears. Her cheeks were covered by wet tear strains, her eyes were all bloodshot and long bangs of her blond hair stuck to her sweaty forehead. She was in her pyjamas and seeing the state of her wrists, she had evidently tried to get rid of herself by cutting herself. She glared at the people who entered, moving further in a corner, screaming to them to get away. 

Jean tried to reason her but she just won't listen. Ororo, Jean and Scott spent the next fifteen minutes trying to explain to her that they were friends and that they wanted to help her, but she was just so stubborn.       

Time kept on passing when suddenly, a loud bang was head down in the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. Another bang was heard. 

Cyclops came out of the girl's room, his hand to his visor and Logan unsheathed his claws. 

"Wolverine, come with me," Scott said, heading for the stairs. 

They were already downstairs when Ororo saw what was going on by the window. 

"Magneto's here," she said. "Jean! Quick!"

There was no need to tell her twice. As Cyclops started shooting outside, Jean was already reaching him to fight along with them. 

"Ororo, go help them," Shania said, trying to make herself useful. "I'll try to convince the girl."

"Okay," Storm said. "Rogue, come with me."

Shany walked inside the room for the first time and the girl backed up a bit more, still covering her ears. 

"Hi," Shania started, sitting at the end of the bed. "I'm Shany. What's your name?"

" . . . Jennifer," she whispered. 

"And how old are you?"

"Twelve."

"I think you've realised that you've become a mutant, hum?" Shania continued, trying to ignore the trashing that was going on outside. 

Jennifer shuddered, more tears streaming down her cheeks. 

"You're not a monster, sweetheart," Shania whispered, getting a little closer. "You're gifted . . . but now your power is hurting you. Let us bring you with us. We're going to help you. You're safe with us."

Jennifer looked up into Shania's eyes. 

" . . . who's Tracy?" she asked. 

"Tracy?" Shania asked, returning her the question. 

" . . . you think I look like Tracy."

"No I don't," Shania said, frowning a little. "I don't even know who is this Tracy."

"It's in your mind," Jennifer said, uncovering her eyes. "You think I have Tracy's face but Carol's eyes."

Shania was starting to panic. 

"I don't know these people," she said. 

Rogue came into the room, interrupting their conversation. 

"Quick! We need to go, now!" she said. 

Shany took Jennifer in her arms, finding that her weigh was a simply touch heavier than a feather's, in a matter of speaking. She jumped down the stairs, following Rogue. 

They arrived outside, where the X-Men were fighting off Mystique, Magneto, Toad and Sabertooth. Logan had informed her about these characters, and they were obviously not to be messed with. And they were obviously after Jennifer. 

Shania made her was up to the jet and was about to enter when someone kicked her behind the knees making her fall. She let go of Jennifer and fell on her back, her head hitting the ground. Feeling dizzy, she saw that the person that had tripped her was Mystique and that the blue woman was now trying to grab Jennifer. 

Shania kicked her ankles, making her fall to the ground, but she still took a longer time to get up than her enemy did. Before she knew what was happening, she had received two punches in the stomach. Growling, she made a few steps back before moving sideways and hitting Mystique sharply in the neck, and making her knee connect with the blue woman's back. She fell to the floor again and Shania was about to hit her again when a big hand grabbed her around the neck. 

Sabertooth lift her above the ground, turning her towards him as she struggled to let air reach her lungs. She clawed at his hand, kicked him, but nothing was working and she was quickly loosing her strength. 

~I can't get unconscious,~ she thought desperately. ~It's going to activate my power . . . I can't . . .~  

Before she knew it, Sabertooth had dropped her to the ground as a flash of red light hi him across the chest. Coughing, Shania felt Scott pick her up and bring her in the jet. She barely had the time to thank him before the others came in. 

"I'll take her, thank you very much," Logan said to Scott in a very hostile manner.

Scott smiled widely before returning to his place and starting the engine. Before the jet took off, Shania fell asleep. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay, the last part between the little (*~*~*) thingys, was a bit messed up. 

In the next chapter, Jean hits on Logan. What is Shany going to do about that??? Well, the more the reviews, the quicker I update.


	12. Love is Pain

Another update! ^_^

Thanks to all my reviewers!  

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 12:**

Shania opened her eyes, only being able to see darkness. She didn't move, letting her eyes slowly adjust to the thick obscurity. Some moments later, she was able to discern objects around her, the window at the other end of the room, the night tables, and the cupboard. 

She was in her room. Turning her head, she saw Logan, still sleeping. 

She figured that she hadn't used her mutation, since Logan was sleeping and that she was in her room, and not in the med lab. She sighed, visibly relieved that no one had witnessed her mutation. 

She rose from the bed and made a few steps, feeling as if a large marble was rolling around in her head, hitting her skull with every step she made. She was tempted to go back to bed to lie down and try to calm her headache, but didn't want to go back to sleep. 

"A glass of milk should do the trick," she muttered, walking towards the door. 

She walked towards the kitchen, taking the quickest way to get there, and found Rogue sitting on one of the high stools in front of the window, sipping what seemed like a cup of hot chocolate similar to the one Scott had prepared her a few nights ago. Shania didn't say anything and walked to the fridge, feeling Rogue's eyes following her. The silence soon became suffocating. 

"How's Jennifer doing?" asked Shania without looking at Rogue. 

"She's in the med lab," she simply answered, no tone whatsoever in her voice. 

A few moments later, Rogue walked to the sink, placed her cup there, gave Shania a look and walked out. Once she was gone, Shany couldn't help but smile at the way that girl was acting. 

Still feeling her headache, she poured herself another glass of milk and walked to the chair Rogue had occupied. She sat down, looking outside but only being able to see her reflection in the glass. 

"I can't say you need much beauty sleep," a voice said behind her. 

She turned around and saw Scott in the doorway, scratching his head and yawning. 

"What are you doing up, *again*?" she asked, taking a rather large gulp of milk. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were following me around."

"Of course," he said sarcastically. "I'm Scott the stalker."  

"I can almost see the headlines," she continued, yawning at her turn. "What time is it anyway?"

"Something close to three in the morning, I think."

He walked to one of the cupboards and pulled out a box of cereals that he placed on the counter. He started rummaging through other cabinets, probably looking for a bowl. 

"I don't remember if I properly thanked you for saving my neck," she said. 

"It's nothing," he responded, pocking his head out of the cupboard he was inspecting. "It's all about teamwork, anyways."

"You're probably right," she mumbled. "How long has the whole X-Men thing going on?"

"Many years."

Shany watched him prepare his cereals with mild amusement. He shook the box, looked inside with cocked eyebrows, hit the side and turned it over his bowl but nothing came out. He hit the top of it and all the cereals inside poured out, covering the bowl. Scott grumbled something, pushing all the exedent of cereals back into the box and finally reaching for the milk. He poured some in very slowly and stared contently at his 'work'. He took a spoon and finally took his first bite. 

"What?" he asked, finally noticing that Shany was staring at him. 

"Oh, nothing," she answered. 

Scott ate in silence, occasionally looking at Shania from the corner of his eyes. She too stayed silent, looking at nothing in particular. Finally, she decided to go back upstairs, to Logan. Scott mentally tried to think of something to say to make her stay, but wasn't quick enough, and so watched her walk away with yearn, unconsciously envying Logan for the first time.  

*~*~*~*~*

Shania walked up the stairs, unaware of what Scott was thinking. She rubbed her forehead, glad to see that her migraine was gone. She counted the rest of the stairs and looked up in the hallway. Anger zapped through her whole body as the saw something that displeased her in the most annoying way. 

Jean was in the hallway, wearing one of those silk nightgowns that reached above the knee. She was talking to Logan right outside their bedroom door. He was shirtless, and wearing one of those grey joggings. He was leaning on the wall, unaware that Jean was totally hitting on him. She laughed again, one of those annoying little laughs that girls didn't like to hear coming from someone talking to their boyfriends. 

Shania cleared her voice and walked forwards. Logan saw her and smiled, turning towards her, while Jean looked slightly irritated.

"Where've you been again?" Logan asked her, holding her in a sweet embrace.

"Just in the kitchen," she said, trying to soften down. "And you?"

"Oh, I woke up and saw you weren't there and before I could go looking for you, Jean arrived," Logan said casually. "We talked a bit. It seems that she woke up too, and Scooter wasn't there."

"He's in the kitchen," Shany said coldly, turning towards Jean, not noticing Logan's frown. 

Jean didn't answer, smiling at Logan and walking away, using the stairs Shan had arrived from. Logan turned Shania towards him and pressed her lips against his softly. She passed her arms around his neck, but before anything else happened, Logan pulled away, still keeping her close to him. 

"What's going on with you and Scooter?" he asked quietly. 

Shania felt the air in her lungs tighten and a shrill coldness swiftly passed in her back. Her eyes widened with shock and she pulled away quite violently.   

"Me and SCOTT?" she asked. "Shouldn't it be what's going on with you and miss-flirty-redhead-who's-engaged?"   

Logan frowned. 

"Jean's-"

"Jean is a bitch who's breaking Scott's heart," Shania interrupted savagely. "I see it on his face every time we're together. Its-"  

"So it wasn't the first time you were seeing him at night like this?" he said, making a step towards her and unavoidably frightening her. 

"Oh, Logan!" Shany said, obviously frustrated by that last comment.

"IS IT?" he asked louder, cornering her, both hands on either side of her head, leaning on the wall.

"NO!" she yelled, seeing the colour in Logan's face vanish. 

He didn't answer anything, staring at her, not even looking as if waiting for an explanation.

"Logan, you don't understand!" Shany said. "We talk! That's all! I can't believe you would think that! You're so overprotective!"

"Overprotective?" he said, getting an inch closer to her face. "I thought its what you wanted. To be protected and loved. But it was all a game for you wasn't it? You've been playing me all along, hun?"

"Logan, no!" Shania said, tears starting to get visible in her eyes.    

"And what? You've been going out at night with *Cyclops*?"

"Logan its not true!" she begged. "I love you!"

Instead of calming him down, that statement only flared up his anger. He turned around ad punched the wall, leaving a hole. Shania was now reasonably scared, but she still wanted Logan to calm down. She made a few steps forward until she was right behind Logan. He, absorbed in his destruction, trying to get rid of his anger, did not hear her approach. He unsheathed his claws and was about to turn around and stab the wall on the other side . . . but he realised only too late the Shany was there. 

Many of the students were now awake, thanks to Logan's thrashing, and were looking out of their dorms. 

The rest passed in slow motion. Logan had turned around and, thinking that the wall was not that far behind, plunged his claws through the air. His fuming face disappeared when he saw Shania right there, in front of him. It took some time for his mind to register what had happened since he concentrated more on her face. She didn't look hurt or scared, just having a look of utter surprise on her face, looking at his eyes, her mouth slightly open, as if waiting for an explanation. He almost sighed of relief that she wasn't hurt, but he was mistaking. 

He had forgotten about his claws and was just looking at her face. She still looked totally astonished, but her lips were almost forming a smile. She realized that she had held her breath and finally breathed out, almost amused. But she saw the look on Logan's face . . . He was afraid . . . but of what? 

She felt a sweet and sugary taste in her mouth, one that was ever so familiar. It leaked out from the side of her lips. 

She rose her hand, wiped her mouth and wanted to swallow, but she couldn't. More of the sweet and sugary taste entered her mouth. She couldn't breathe. She looked at Logan, frightened, and spat to the floor, feeling incapable of breathing in because of the taste in her mouth. She wiped her lips again and looked at her hand. It was covered in cherry coloured blood. She looked at Logan, and saw her fear reflecting on his face. She backed up slowly, looking down at her stomach just in time to see Logan retract his claws. 

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't hear the screams. She could only start feeling the pain, sweeping over her completely. The feeling was so familiar, it was terrifying. After a few more steps of backing up, she finally reached the wall, leaned on it, and slid to the floor without a word spoken. She could now hear the students. They were screaming. She felt footsteps arriving very quickly.     

All started going black, and the last thing she saw was Logan, fright, anger and powerlessness in his eyes. He bent down. He was holding her. 

"I swear I love you," she whispered, trying to hold back the tears.

But she couldn't breathe, she couldn't see and couldn't feel anything but the pain that was consuming her. 

Everything went black.   

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Are you angry? Are you mad? Are you sad? _ 

Tell me about it. No, really. Tell me about it. (As in review, please . . .) 


	13. Memories

Hey folks! Before you read this chappie, I want you to remind you that you may find that some things look like 'A Life Worth Living' . . . maybe.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 13: **

It was snowing. The sky was light gray and it was snowing in the middle of a wood. A two-inch layer of the cold white flurry covered the ground, but it couldn't be later than November, seeing all the orange, gold, red and yellow leaves still hanging on the surrounding trees, and all those hidden under the carpet of snow. A little girl probably around the age of seven was running, covered in warm winter clothes. She seemed happy, jumping over rocks and fallen branches, giving the impression of knowing exactly where she was going. 

"Grandpa?" she asked, stopping dead in her tracks in front of a large maple tree that had already lost its colored leaves.   

"I'm here, Shany," an old man's voice said from a pack of large bushes, a bit further away.  

The young girl smiled and ran towards the now visible green hat poking out of the bushes, and crawled between the branches to sit in front of a well built man with gray hair, smoking a pipe. He was also wearing winter clothes, but his were of wool and fur and seemed to have been used for quite a while. He was wearing army boots and a rifle was at his side. A sugary smell of old tobacco hung around him. 

"Did you find me quickly?" he asked in a whisper. "Did your parents let you leave alone?"

"Mommy doesn't want me to stay with you much," the girl said sorrowfully. "But daddy said that it was alright, because he knows that I know the way by heart."

"Yes, well your mother doesn't like me very much," the old man said. "She thinks I'm crazy and doesn't like military people like me and your dad."

"But she loves daddy!" the girl objected. 

"Yes, but she hates the fact that he, like me, works for the government," the grandpa explained. "Now are you ready to go hunting?" 

The girl nodded happily.    

"Now, you remember how to use the gun?" he asked, showing her the rifle by his side, getting a nod for answer. "Well I'm going to show you how to make sure you hit your target . . ."

But the memory faded away, only to be replaced by another one. 

The little girl was eight. She sat in the corner of the room, right after dinnertime, a mark on her face proving that she had been slapped more than once. She was crying, trying to make herself as small as possible, watching her parents' shadows through the French glass doors in the living room. They were yelling, porcelain was breaking, and finally, there was pain. He could hear them, her father was drunk, his wife was leaving him, going off to Miami with his young associate and wanted divorce papers.    

Her mother opened the first glass door and walked towards her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.

"No, mommy, please no," she sobbed. "I'm staying with daddy . . . he needs me . . ."

Her mother glared, screamed something at her father who appeared in the doorway, giving his daughter a little smile, walking to her and passing his hands on her shoulders while his ex-wife walked away noisily, slamming the door on her way out. Everything disappeared.   

The young girl was now ten, standing in an ice cream parlor beaming with pride between her father and grandpa, both in military uniforms, decorated with medals. There was a former beauty queen with black hair on her father's side.

This time, it was much earlier in autumn, probably around the end of September, beginning of October. 

The same girl was there, but the only difference was that she was older, maybe around the age of thirteen or fourteen. She looked much more mature, having her hair tied into a high ponytail and wearing a full black bodysuit complete with belt and gun. She was standing in the middle of a clearing. Behind her was a very large house in which people were talking loudly around a dinner table. Military people. 

The girl degained her gun and pointed it towards a circular target about a hundred feet away. She shot five times at regular intervals and the bullet hit the center of the target each time. She did not smile, simply looking at her goal. 

"That was nice," a boy's voice said from behind the target, walking to the side and showing himself. He was older than she, tall, good looking, well built and maybe a little thin, having fair skin, messy black hair and brown eyes. He was smirking and had his hands in his pockets. To his clothes, he was obviously the son of a military from inside the house, even if he did seem a little unruly with his tie undone and his jacket loose. 

The girl sighed, lowering her weapon. 

"Your name?" she half asked, half ordered, visibly annoyed.        

"James," he said. "James Howlett."  

But the boy disappeared, just like everything else. After a few moments of darkness, another scenery appeared. It was the same big home in which the military had dined. A man was in the living room, smoking and reading the papers. A woman, the man's second wife, was in the kitchen, washing dishes and there was a small dog running around in the hallway. Loud footsteps were heard jumping down the stairs and the ever-same girl appeared. Years had passed and she was now sixteen. Her hair was darker, cut above the shoulder, and there were some bangs dyed blue. She had a nose ring and her ears were completely pierced. She was wearing the bottom of a winter outfit and was holding a snowboard in one hand, a bag in the other. 

"Bye Dad," she said. "Going snowboarding with Chris and Jimmy for the weekend."

Before he could object, she was out the door, jumping in the back of a red jeep with two boys. The first had silvery blond hair, was very, very tall and equally skinny. The second was the same boy from the previous memory, in older. He looked much stronger and wasn't skinny anymore. He had obviously started working out. His skin was a bit darker and his chin had some stubble, unlike the first boy.

"Lets get out of here!" the girl said.

The car drove off and James turned around from his seat and smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and looked away. 

Everything went black again, until another image appeared. 

Shania was at least eighteen this time. Her piercings were gone, her hair was longer and wasn't colored. She was wearing leather clothes and was in a small town, more precisely in a bar, with Chris. He was holding her by her waist and was kissing her every now and then, sometimes looking over her shoulder, and smiling.      

After a while, she turned around to see at what he was looking at, and saw James, leaning on the back wall, looking very angry. He and Chris weren't on friendly terms anymore. 

And the image vanished, like all the other memories, letting another materialize at its place.  

She was nineteen and had her first motorcycle. She was ridding on the road, letting the cold air burn he face.

The imaged blurred out and a dark room appeared, in which Shania, James, Chris and other young people working for the government stood in line. A man in front of them was talking, but she couldn't remember what he was saying, except for one thing . . . the weapon-X project. Having finished his speech, the man in uniform looked around expectantly. 

"I volunteer," a much too familiar voice said, making a step forward. 

Shania turned and looked, shocked, as James stepped forward.    

The picture turned into a lab in which she was, tied to a table, struggling. She could feel James' presence . . . Chris' presence . . . her father's presence . . . but no one would help her. 

No other image came, as she only remembered feelings. Pain, hatred, fear . . . and the desire to harm.  

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I wanted to notify that James Howlett was Logan's name before he lost his memory. AHAH! 

Next chapter coming as soon as I get enough reviews! It's already written, so I'm just waiting for reviews . . . 


	14. Nightmare?

Well . . . I've got nothing interesting to say so you might as well read on. -_-

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 14: **

Scott and Logan were standing in front of the med lab's door, the first having his arms crossed and standing firmly in the middle of the passage, the other, leaning cross-armed against the wall, looking like a man totally apart. They stayed in silence, having finished arguing after the first two hours of waiting.

Logan was staring out into the unknown, thinking about the look on her face when they had argued. Why hadn't he trusted her? He had hurt her, emotionally and physically. He felt as if he would never forgive himself. 

Scott was re-passing the night's events through his head. He had arrived after hearing the children yelling. She had been leaning on the wall, looking at Logan, as if asking him a question. He had seen the blood on the floor and three red trails on her baggy white pajamas.    

Logan had pushed him away when he had leaned towards her and he had carried her immediately to the med lab. Jean had temporarily forgotten that Shan was her enemy and had immediately started an operation to try and save her.

And now, after having been pushed out of the lab, after having verbally fought Logan, Scott knew that he was jealous and that he wanted Shania, maybe even more that he desired Jean. Since they had arrived, just watching the small cherished rituals between them, like Logan's hand brushing her cheek, his hands smoothing a trailing wisp of her hair, or simply the way she looked at him and kissed him, Scott felt a sharp pang of jealousy, a sudden irrational urge to wrench them apart and take Logan's place beside the woman. 

Bobby, who had witnessed a great part of the accident, had told him that they had started arguing about something and that Shania had tried to calm him down, but then Logan had turned around and had stabbed her. It had been an accident, since he hadn't seen her coming, but still Scott blamed him more that anyone or anything else. Who couldn't?

Scott turned around and glared at Logan who didn't even bother to look up at him. The sound of the elevator was heard and the professor arrived, fully dressed in his wheelchair. Without a word spoken, he wheeled towards the med lab and entered. The door closed behind him. 

Another half hour passed until, finally, Jean and the professor came out of the lab, both looking rather uneasy. Logan looked at them expectantly, as did Scott.  

"Her situation is very, very unstable," Jean said sadly. "But she's not at death's door." 

Logan's look brightened a little bit but no one noticed, as sadness and misery were the top two emotions visible on his face. 

"Come with me, I will explain," she continued, walking towards the meeting room. 

They all followed her and stood in front of a large white board where Logan's X-Rays had once been showed. Jean clipped on a few pictures, but weren't at all of Shan's body. 

"These are images of Shania's blood system," Jean said. "Here is how a mutant's blood system is supposed to be."

She showed them a picture where different molecules were 'floating' together, lightly separated from one another and moving in a regular way. Half of the molecules seemed darker than others representing the X-Gene, and the other half were human genes.

"And this is what Shania's test revealed," Jean said, showing them the second picture. 

The molecules could be seen clearly here too, looking exactly like the ones on the other picture, but something was definitely wrong. All the mutant molecules were crammed together with the human genes, and so seemed to be a compact mass.

"Seeing that they weren't being used, the X-molecules crammed together and are totally blocking her blood flow," Jean explained. "When crammed up blood like that reaches the brain, it causes headaches, just like for humans. Aspirins' job is vaguely to loosen the blood flow and I tried using it on her during the whole operation, seeing that with the wounds, the blood wouldn't stop flowing, but it didn't work. I had a lot of problems because seeing that all the blood was cramming inside her, she couldn't breathe, but I was able to slow down the flow and she's now in artificial sleep."

"Can I see her?" Logan asked, taking his eyes off the images on the board. 

"No," Jean and the professor said at the same time. 

"Listen, it was an acciden-" Logan started. 

"We know, Logan" Jean interrupted. "Its that the med lab is now a sterilized zone and that no one can enter for now. The wound isn't –"

Jean was herself interrupted by a beeping sound, coming from a beeper attached to her doctor's vest. She looked at it and ran out of the room, evidently returning to the med lab. Ignoring the fact that they weren't allowed to enter, Logan, Scott and the professor followed her inside the room. 

Instead of being calm, as it was always supposed to be, loud thrashing and an alarm could be heard. Logan ran behind Jean and caught a glimpse of Shania. His heart stopped. 

She was on a medical bed, wearing a tank top only covering her breast and small pair of shorts made of the same material. Tubes and wires were connected to her and a large bandage was wrapped around her waist.  

The bandage was starting to dye red because she kept moving. In fact, she was in an upright position, moving from side to side, her eyes shut tight. She was ripping off every tube connected to her that she could reach. 

"Shania!" Jean exclaimed, walking to her and grabbing her arm that was tugging on the mask over her nose and mouth. "Stop that!"

Shania arrived to rip the mask off her face and immediately started pulling on the IV tubes in her arms, but instead of taking them out of her skin gently, she totally ripped them out. 

"Scott! Logan!" Jean yelled. "Help me!" 

The two men walked forwards and each took one of her arms while Jean was trying to control her legs, but she just struggled even more.

"GET OFF ME!" she yelled, clawing out to the ones holding her back. "LET ME GO!"

"Shania, calm down!" Jean and the professor pleaded. 

For answer, Shan growled, pushed her feet away from Jean and backed up right into Scott, making him fall to the ground while she was still being restrained onto the table. With her now available hand, she started pulling on the bandage around her waist, just as the wound reopened and started bleeding profusely. 

"STOP!" Jean yelled at her turn, trying to make her let go of the bandage. 

Shania froze and opened her eyes for the first time. She was sweating and panting, looking around her like a frightened animal. 

"Relax, Shania," the professor said calmly. "Rest."

Shan looked at him for a while, without moving or making a sound, until she sighed and was about to saw something, but blood had already reached her throat and she was now forced to spit it out of her mouth. With one last look at the professor, she fell backwards, being taken away into unconsciousness again.       

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Please review 0_0  


	15. Cruel Temptation

I'm sorry I took so long to update. I had a gigantic author's block for this story and 'A Mutant's Nightmare'. This chapter was hard to write without making it look stupid or odd. I hope you like it. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Chapter 15:** Cruel Temptation 

"I did this to her, its my fault," Logan said sadly, his hands on his temples, sitting on the front steps of the school, the last rays of sunshine fading away quickly after being reflected on the pearly white snow that had finally come back.

"No its not," Rogue said, sitting beside him, passing her hand in his back, her breath coming out in puffs of smoke. "Don't worry about it. She'll be fine."

They both stayed silent for a while until Logan finally looked at Rogue. 

"I think I'll go to the gym," he said, getting up. 

"Shouldn't you go rest a little?" she asked, concerned. "You haven't slept for a long time now."

". . . Nah, I'll be fine," Wolverine growled. "But . . . thanks Marie."

He walked to the door and disappeared inside, leaving the young woman outside. She smiled, hugging her knees to her chest, watching the gate at the end of the lane. 

*~*~*~*~*

It was nighttime, close to eleven at night. 

Jean walked out of the med lab, taking off her doctor's vest. She looked furious and pleased at the same time . . . which was kind of odd. Yes, she had saved Shania, but she still wanted Logan for herself. And now, Shania wasn't there to stop her from getting what she sought. 

There was no better time.

Jean walked up to her room. Scott had told her that he would keep an eye on Shania while she was gone, and so he was out of the way, just like Shania. 

Jean changer into clothes of her liking and walked down to the gym, where she knew she would find Logan. 

She was right. Logan was still in the gym, beating the crap out of a punching bag. He didn't turn in her direction, even though she was certain he had heard her come in. 

"Hi, Logan," she said, walking forwards.

He didn't say anything, but turned around. Before he knew what was happening, she was in his arms. 

"Don't worry about it," she said, looking up to him. 

For a second, Logan didn't know what she was talking about and was completely lost. 

Why was the woman that had always rejected him finally in his arms? He didn't understand. 

Jean let go and took a good look of him. 

"Come on, you need some sleep," she said, pulling him away from the punching bag.

"No, no, I'm okay," Logan mumbled, still in a daze. 

"As a doctor, I'm going to have to insist," she said, smiling. "Come on."

~Is she just messing with me?~ Logan thought as they walked down the hallway leading to their respective rooms.

~No I'm not, Logan,~ Jean told him in his mind. ~Stay with me tonight.~

*~*~*~*~*

What time was it? Nearly midnight.

Scott was starting to feel hungry and decided to take a bite in the kitchen before going back downstairs to keep an eye on Shania. 

He prepared himself a sandwich, ate it, and, wanting to check on Jean, walked up to their room. 

But it was already occupied.    

*~*~*~*~*

Shania slowly opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness. She slowly regained her senses, starting with touch and hearing. She realized that the table she was laid on was cold, that she wouldn't mind an extra blanket and that there was a very annoying sound beeping nearby. She inhaled, and it was at that precise moment she felt an almost unbearable pain in her chest, mostly located in her lungs, not specifically where Logan had given her a wound. 

She tried to breathe normally and the pain finally disappeared a few minutes later. She gradually moved her arms and legs and started rubbing her eyes. 

~Would someone turn that god damn machine off?~ she thought, finding the beeping sound more and more aggravating. 

She opened her eyes again and saw no big difference than the first time. 

Feeling particularly irritated for some reason, she swung her legs to the side of her bed and tried to remember what had happened, even though she had a skull-splitting headache.  

She remembered the accident in the hallway, being brought in the med lab and loosing consciousness, but also very vague images she had probably dreamed of. 

"I need to speak to Logan," she said out loud, trying to see if her feet could support her. 

She finally got to her feet and made her way through the darkness of the med lab. Knowing exactly where the door was, she opened it and was momentarily dazed by the brightness of the hallway compared to the darkness of the room. 

She saw that what she was wearing wasn't very covering and so flicked the light switch on inside the med lab and found her old pair of jeans and one of her tank tops ready to be worn. She quickly slipped them on, making sure not to damage the bandage on her side. 

"It doesn't hurt much anymore," she muttered. "Maybe even close to complete healing, as a matter of fact."

She walked to the door, through the hallway and up to the elevator with one thing in mind: speaking to Logan. 

She reached the first floor and deducted that it was nighttime seeing the obscurity outside. No one was in the common room or even in the kitchen and so she headed to the higher floors. 

She was astonished to find that the room she shared with Logan was also empty and though that the last place he could be was probably the gym.

She walked down one of the hallways, passed many closed doors, most of which she knew were leading to dorm rooms. 

After a moment, she reached Scott and Jean's room, but was surprised to see that the door was almost, but not completely closed. 

She could hear sound coming from the inside and reddened to the thought of what they were doing in there. 

~Gee, they can do what they want but they could at least have closed the door,~ she though, walking away. ~I mean, there are kids in the building!~

But then she clearly head Jean's voice moaning *not* her fiancé's name. For a moment, her face lost all its color and she stopped dead in her tracks. 

~This is impossible,~ she immediately thought. ~No . . .~

Another familiar voice was heard, confirming what she had heard. 

Tears reached her eyes before words reached her mind. 

~That fucking bastard . . . he . . . he . . . even after what happened . . . no.~

She felt like her heart was about to explode and started running towards the room she had once shared with who she thought had been the love of her life. 

Her vision was completely blurred by tears as she turned on the light and started looking for her things. She pilled up everything she owned in one of her suitcases, bringing with her everything that hadn't had a significant link to Logan. 

~I need to go, I need to leave, far away, far away . . .~

Her headache had started again, stronger than ever and she found it hard to stay conscious. Anger slowly mingled with her tears. 

She grabbed her trench coat, slipped it on her shoulders, zipped her bag and pulled it out in the hallway as silently as possible. 

The pain in her ribs was starting again.

~CAN IT GET EVEN WORST?~ she yelled interiorly. 

She reached the main entrance and stopped again, remembering the professor. 

~I bet you can hear me professor,~ she thought. ~Please, I need to tell you something.~

~Hello, Shania,~ he said in her mind. ~I see that you are leaving us.~

~Yes, you must already know why. Please, I'd like to be left alone. Don't try to find me. I don't want anything to do with this place anymore.~

~Alright, miss Hales,~ the professor said. ~But remember that you are always welcomed.~

~Good Bye.~

Shania walked to the garage and opened the main door. She shoved her bag in the back, started the engine and drove off. 

One hand on the steering wheel, she started massaging her temple, trying to make her headache disappear. Once she passed the gates he turned around and started looking for aspirins in her bag. Having found them, she looked back on the road and saw someone standing in the middle of the road not too far away.

Surprised, she pressed both feet on the brake and stopped not too far away from the person, her tires screeching on the icy pavement.  

The man outside walked to her window that she rolled down a little, just to know what he wanted. 

But she immediately recognized the tall man with bond hair that had been watching her since the beginning of her stay at the school.

"NOT YOU!" she yelled. 

He smiled.

"I just couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be leaving," he said, eyeing her bag. 

Shania stared at him, her eyes throwing daggers. 

"You're sure you don't want to come with me?" he said, pointing out his car parked on the side of the road. 

"In your dreams," Shan said, rolling her window back up, ready to drive off. 

"One minute, Shany," the man said, chuckling. "I hear the headaches are getting worst. Is it true?"

"Fuck off," she said.  

"Well, drive safely," he mocked, smiling widely as she drove away. 

*~*~*~*~*

Scott, a beer in hand, was still at the window where he had seen Shania drive off. He hesitated one moment then grabbed his keys and ran towards the garage.

~Two can play this game, Wolverine.~ 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

^_^ No more author blocks. I'm going to try to promise that. 

A review? Please?


End file.
